Thoughts From Andromeda
by ElementalsAdvocate
Summary: A series of video journals recorded by Pathfinder Scott Ryder during his first year in the Heleus Cluster. Features Scott Ryder and SAM. Rated (M) for language. Self-Challenge Fiction. I own nothing except these words. Read, review, and enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

**Thoughts From Andromeda**

By ElementalsAdvocate

 **Year 2820. Andromeda Galaxy, Heleus Cluster, the Nexus, Arc Hyperion, SAM Node.**

 **Bringing up files: Year 2819, Andromeda Galaxy, Heleus Cluster, the Nexus, Arc Hyperion, SAM Node**

SAM, you recording?

 _{Yes, Scott.}_

Ok, then.

Well… I guess I started doing these video journals because, if I didn't, I would have gone mad a long time ago.

 **Computer pause.**

Fuck… Fuck… Fuck… What the hell am I supposed to say?

…

Yeah SAM, yes I know, but how do I start?

…

At the beginning? No shit. Alright. **Computer Resume**.

SAM says that the best place to start is at the beginning. Since he's usually right about stuff like this I'll just do what he says and see where it takes me.

My name is Scott Enfield Ryder. I'm twenty-three years old, not counting the six-hundred-plus years it took for the Hyperion to get to the Andromeda Galaxy. I used to be an Alliance Marine; more on that later. I'm also a natural born biotic, along with my twin sister Sara.

I got into the Andromeda Initiative by the same sort of gravity that's been pulling me into trouble since the day I was born: namely my sister Sara and my father Alec Ryder. Dad was a marine too, and not just any marine: he was one of the original N7 marines that went with Admiral Grissom through the Charon Mass Relay back in 2149. He spent his early years serving the Alliance, and then after my sister and I were born and Mom died, he went civilian to care for us. Didn't mean he was around more, just that when we got into trouble it was easier to contact him so he could look at us and tell us not to do it again. But I'm getting off track. Where was I?

Oh yeah.

Dad was a scientist then, working some pretty deep stuff in Artificial Intelligence technology. He was always smart, but after he left the Alliance he turned his considerable brain-power to creating an A.I. that could interface directly with a person's mind. Course, he never let on to folks in the Milky Way just how deeply that interface would go.

 **Computer pause** _ **;**_ SAM, please delete that last bit. Thanks. **Computer resume.**

By that time, Dad had already been working with the Andromeda Initiative for a few years, and when the Initiative started looking for applicants for Arc Hyperion, Sara signed up right away.

Sara always was the adventurous type. Comes from being born first I suppose. She likes to raze me about it, and I throw it right back. It's an old game; a way of reminding each other that despite everything that's happened, the connection between us hasn't changed.

Just like me, Sara signed up with the Alliance. It was the thing to do, in our family at least. We'd spent so much of our early lives bouncing around the galaxy from one posting to the next, and then Dad set his lab on the Citadel, so service seemed as natural to us as breathing. Sera did it because she wanted to get out there and explore the universe. She used Dad's connections to get a posting to the Citadel in conjunction with the Prothean Studies unit, before getting sent into the Attican Traverse, while I was assigned to duty at the Relay 202 station.

Then the Eden-Prime War happened. I watched the new-feeds the same as the other marines: Eden Prime burning, the Geth leaving the Perseus Veil for the first time in three-hundred years to assault colonies and stations across the Traverse, Commander Shepard becoming the first human Spectre. For months, I watched ships go back and forth between Arcturus Station and our colonies. Over and over again, I asked for a transfer to a combat unit, but more on that later. Then, Saren's attack on the Citadel: the destruction, the cost, the thousands of lives lost, and thousands more in ruins from the Geth attack. Luckily, Sara was away from the Citadel, on Eden Prime of all places, helping peacekeeping force care for refugees while simultaneous digging in the hills for Prothean artifacts. Dad was away too, on Earth as it happens.

I can only speculate, but maybe Dad knew something was going to happen, even then. Old friends in the military, looking at the data beneath the data, a gut feeling; something that told him that things weren't going to end with Sovereign's destruction at the Citadel, and forcing the Geth Fleet back beyond the Veil. I never asked him, and now… I can't.

 **Computer pause.**

 _ **Scott bows his head, covering his eyes with his hands, sitting quietly for several minutes.**_

 **Computer resume.**

I guess he figured that I wouldn't come, even if he begged me. But, that doesn't mean he didn't set things up so I would get dragged into it, like I said. Instead, he had one of his colleagues on the Initiative contact Sara about signing up for the Pathfinder Team. Sara, like the bull-goose fool she is, took after the application like a bull after a matadors cape, and in less time than it takes to say "Bob's your uncle" she was on the team.

She phoned me after she got the news, absolutely gushing with delight, saying how Dad was so surprised that she had gotten accepted. I, of course, knew better, or thought I did.

 **Computer Pause:** SAM, delete last- yes, thank you. **Computer resume.**

Sara must have known where I was in my life right then, because she sent me an application of my own. "Just think about it," she said.

I'd like to elaborate on where I was in my life at this time.

I'd signed up with the Alliance Marines, just like Dad did. I didn't do it to please him. I did it because I wanted to prove myself, to myself. Well, I went through basic training same as every other marine, then I was assigned to Arcturus Station before being transferred to the Relay 202 Defense Station. The transfer was only supposed to be temporary, three weeks max, just to get my feet wet before sending me on to a new post.

I ended up stuck in that shit-hole for two years.

Relay 202 was one of the Primary Relays to Arcturus from the Attican Traverse and the Skyllian Verge. As such, the Defense Station on one of Rigel's moons was considered one of the linchpins to the defense of Arcturus and Earth from invasion. But since the First Contact War and humanity joined the Citadel Council races and expanded into the Traverse, no one had made a concerted effort to attack or invade Alliance Space through 202. By the time I joined the Marines and was transferred there, the Skyllian Blitz was gone

See, my CO was a political coward. Once he found out I was the son of Alec Ryder, hero of the Alliance, he promptly put me on desk duty, far away from any possible danger, and any repercussions that might follow if I got hurt. Nobody and I mean nobody had ever done that to me before; at least, not since Mom died. Dad certainly never coddled me. If he thought I could do something without getting maimed or killed, he typically let me go about my business, and then made certain I endured the consequences.

When the Eden Prime War broke out, I had a front row seat to see all the ships heading into the Traverse to fight, while I was stuck dirt-side. While my buddies from boot camp were earning their stripes fighting the geth, defending the Alliance, giving their lives for humanity, I was stuck shuffling paper, moving crates, running security sweeps, and busting the occasional smuggler.

When people asked me where I was when the Citadel was attacked by the Geth, I answer: "I was at my desk, running a diagnostic on the sensor platforms, safe and sound." When people asked me where I was when it was announced that Commander Shepard had been killed and the Normandy destroyed, I have to say: "I was filing a report in triplicate for my commander on the retrofits for the shower in the barracks."

 **Computer pause.**

Fuck. That still pisses me off.

 _{Do you want to stop?}_

No SAM. Just give me a second. Okay, **Computer resume.**

Anyway, by the time Sara sent word that she had been accepted into the Andromeda Initiative, I was ready for a change. My three-year service was almost up anyway. I applied to the Initiative, and within a week I got word that I was accepted into the program. When my service contract finally came up, I left my CO with a little present: A bag of his favorite coffee beans, laced with a powerful diuretic. I can still remember the sound of his screams as he bolted for the head before I headed for the shuttle. I never asked him for a reference. I never will.

 **Computer pause.**

No Sam, I didn't hat the guy. I detested him. He took two years of my life and held me like I was some kind of nuke that would go off if he let anything jar me. He ruined my chance as a Marine. I just ruined his day. Far as I'm concerned, he got what he deserved.

 **Computer resume.**

Sara and I were both classified by the Initiative as "Recon Specialists". Basically we're scouts, equipped with cutting-edge top-of-the-line omni-tools and scanners that make the stuff the N7's get look like something dug out of the bottom of a bargain bin. I spent the next six weeks before Arc Hyperion was ready to leave running drills and simulations, getting acquainted with what we could expect once we got to Andromeda. Which, as it turned out was "We really have no idea. We just prepare as best we can and then get on with it." I especially enjoyed learning my way around the new "jump-jets". Extreme parkour doesn't do it justice.

I spent most of my off-duty hours with Sara. Dad was too busy to talk most days, in and out of meetings with the Initiatives directors, and putting the finishing touches to SAM before we left. Though we were on the Pathfinder Team, we didn't actually get to meet the other members until just before Hyperion left. Security concerns. Didn't want too many people to find out who was involved and possibly slip a stowaway or saboteur onboard.

As part of the Pathfinder team, we were one of the last groups to be put into our cryo-pods. I remember… just before Sara and I went into the Med-bay, we were in one of the observation lounges, taking one last look at Earth. Hyperion was in the earth shadow, away from the sun, so we could see all of Europe, North Africa, the Atlantic Ocean, and eastern North America, all lit up bright as could be so we could identify them just by tracing the shapes of the lights against the black of the seas.

"Just think: six hundred years ago, the nations of Europe had only just realized that there was another continent across the Atlantic, waiting to be explored. The best way to get there was by ship, and the only way to navigate was by the stars."

"Some things never change then," Sara quipped, and we laughed. Then the doctors called us over the intercom, and we got up to leave. Just before we left, I heard Sara whisper to the lights below us, "Bye, Mom."

Fuck. It still hurts to think about. Fuck it; I can't do any more SAM. Maybe later, okay. Need to think. On my own; just- don't say anything, okay?

 _ **Scott Ryder exits the Node in distress.**_

 **End Recording.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thoughts from Andromeda, Part 2**

By ElementalsAdvocate

 **Computer: Begin recording.**

... Okay, where were we last time? Oh, yeah; leaving Earth. All that stuff is already saved for posterity in the logs: the ceremony, the celebration, breaking orbit from the moon, heading out of galaxy, all that jazz. Someone wants to know about it, they can look it up for themselves. I don't need to hash over it again.

So, six hundred and thirty four years later, Hyperion finally arrives in Andromeda and heads straight to Habitat 7; our new home for humanity. Back during our orientation, the Initiative showed us the seven Golden Worlds they'd picked out in the Heleus cluster for colonization. Habitat 7 was supposed to be a tropical paradise, ready and waiting for us.

God, how naive can people be?

The doctors pulled me out of my cryo-pod in 2819, right there in the cooler. They'd started waking the Pathfinder Team up first in preparation for arrival, and I guess they were in a bit of a hurry. From my first conscious breath, I knew to my bones that we were there. Don't ask me how or why. Anyway, the docs sat me down in on a bed in the med-bay with a cup of hot coffee, and this Asari doctor starts taking me through the usual sensory crap, checking my implant, checking with SAM about my implant. Meanwhile the other doctors are waking up the rest of the Pathfinder Team. Sara hadn't been removed from her pod yet, and they were just starting to bring her out. And, I remember that damn speaker was going off every few minutes to spout off some platitude about the Initiative and how good things were going to be once we got to our golden world.

That was when the shit started to hit the fan.

First, the lights go out. Then, Hyperion gets what I like to call "a royal kick in the fundament". Everyone hit the floor, and anything not bolted down started sliding all over the place. Luckily, the gravity died just before I could get brained by a cryo-pod, and everything started floating about the med-bay like jelly-fish in a tank.

A few seconds later, Cora Harper, Dad's second-in-command, managed to get the power and gravity back online in the med-bay. Then it was all about damage control: check blown-relays, reset computer systems, and patch our injuries. Sara's pod was damaged in the crash, and the doctors had to put her in an induced coma to allow her to wake up naturally. Since there was nothing I could do to help Sara one way or the other, I stuck my feelings in the back of my head for later and did what I do best: focusing on present.

Once the crew had things in hand, Cora and I headed for the bridge. There, we met Captain Dunn and my father, discussing what had happened and what our next move was going to be. Apparently, with no word or sign of the Nexus, the Hyperion had headed straight for Habitat 7, the tropical paradise everyone had been looking forward to. However, just as we reached the planet, the Hyperion crashed into some kind of energy cloud, a mass of dark matter hanging in the void, and that was what had caused the power outage. When we finally got a look at Habitat 7 up close, our blue-green orb looked like it had become infected: black and grey lines like poisoned veins running across the planets face, obscuring the entire hemisphere beneath massive thunderstorms that sporadically spat lightning that we could see even from the Hyperion's bridge.

Figures, eh? We spend six-hundred years sleeping, and the minute we wake up, all that karma comes right back to bite us.

Dad was in full-on N7/Pathfinder Mode: press forward, get on the ground, and find out what's going on first-hand. So, we tramped down to the hanger bay, got kitted out in sealed recon suits, and headed for the surface.

I'll never forget that first shuttle flight. Heading out into the darkness, seeing the Hyperion trapped among the filaments of dark energy over the planet. Entering the atmosphere, the white clouds and ozone burning around the shuttle, turning the air pale yellow with its heat. That first glimpse of ground: enormous grey jagged mountains rising (and in some cases floating) up through the air, making teeth and pitted fangs at the unforgiving grey and blue sky. Our first glimpses of those black towers, sleek and reflective like obsidian glass.

There were five of us in that shuttle: Me, Fisher, Kirkland, Greer, and Liam Costa. Liam introduced himself to me in the shuttle. I'd already met the others before in the Milky Way and just before we left the Hyperion. Liam was eager, standing with me at the port-side hatch, watching Habitat 7 take shape below us.

Suddenly the shuttle jolted. Fisher screamed something about a lightning strike, and then the hatch was literally ripped off its mountings. I remember flames and smoke pouring out of the shuttle, Liam hanging on for dear life as the wind tried to suck us both into empty space. Reaching out, trying to pull Liam back into the shuttle, and then-

It was like someone had given me the biggest kick in the pants in the universe. Turns out, that was when our shuttle sheared in two, pitching me into electrified air. I could hear SAM talking in my ear, telling me my jump jets were malfunctioning, flying past floating rocks the size of a house, screaming for SAM to "get my jets going!"

Luckily my jets finally kicked in, slowing my downward momentum just enough so that I didn't shatter like an egg on the mountainside. I landed on a cliff, lost my footing, and tumbled down over a hundred feet before I finally landed, and I heard my visor "crack".

I rolled over, already hearing the tell-tale hiss of a suit rupture as the hermetic seal of my suit was breached, draining precious oxygen. The air tasted absolutely foul, like a cross between the smell of a lightning storm and bad eggs with a touch of toxic metals. Training kicked in, and I hastily activated my omni-tool , applying a layer of clear omni-gel across my visor to create a temporary patch.

For a full minute I just lay there, breathing in sweet oxygenated air, and letting my heart-rate go back to something that felt like normal.

Before Sara and I joined the Alliance, people used to throw "adrenaline junkie" in our direction a lot. And it was true. If we hadn't done it before, and most people wouldn't do it because it was too dangerous, too wild, or too crazy, we'd do it just to show we could. Extreme sports, white-water rafting, spelunking, bungie-jumping, sky-diving, and once; BASE jumping off the top of the World Trade Center in New York City. We had an edge with our biotics, and having an N7 for a dad and a world-renowned scientist for a mom opened a lot of doors. We loved the thrill of it, pushing the boundaries, competing with one another in our own personal game of adventure and thrill. But I've got to say: I have never experienced a rush like sky-diving out of an exploding shuttle, through a lightning storm, with a malfunctioning jump-jet, smashing face-first into a mountain on an alien world, and coming away with only a cracked helmet and a few bruises.

BASE jumping didn't even come close.

If you want to know the rest of what happened on Habitat 7, go look up the After-Action reports from the Human Pathfinder Team under the corresponding time and date. I don't want to talk about it.

 **Computer: end recording.**

No- Sam, I don't want to talk about it, period! It's over and done. Just… let it go for now, okay?


	3. Chapter 3

Thoughts from Andromeda, part 3

By ElementalsAdvocate

 **SAM: Begin recording.**

Ok, SAM suggested that if I didn't want to talk about what happened, I should at least put down my thoughts on our first contact.

Well, to be honest, it wasn't the disaster that everyone makes it out to be.

It was worse; So much worse.

Let me list the disasters as they happened, and I might be able to talk about it without cursing.

One: the Hyperion crashes into an energy cloud, causing wide-spread damage to the ship.

Two: my sister's cryo-pod gets damaged, and the doctors are forced to put her into a medically induced coma, putting the pathfinder team down by one desperately needed recon specialist.

Three: our golden world turns out to be half-way between dead and alive, unable to support life as we know it.

Four: one of heavy shuttles gets hit by lightning and tears in half, spilling us and all our equipment across the landscape.

Five: we lose contact with SAM and the Hyperion, so we lose any kind of support and analysis for the data we collect.

Six: our first contact with an alien species goes hostile, and after that, we end up going toe-to-toe with one enemy patrol after another.

Seven: Fisher gets a busted leg from being smacked by an alien rifle and we have to leave him behind in the ruined shuttle.

Eight: Kirkland is executed by the aliens even after surrendering peacefully. Liam and I avenge him by wiping out his killers.

Nine: Liam and I are attacked by some kind of cross between a tiger and a crocodile, with big teeth, bone armor, and a biological ability to go invisible. Yeah, that was fun.

Ten: We nearly scare ourselves shitless poking around with alien equipment that acted like a bomb but turned out to be an alien generator.

Eleven: We somehow activate a killer robot in some kind of alien lab, which was apparently guarding a doorway to go deeper into the depths of the planet. We, (wisely in my opinion) turn around and leave the premises with all haste, but run into another alien patrol backed up with more of those bone-tigers.

Twelve: Liam and I step into toxic waste from a busted pipe line while rescuing Greer from an alien patrol. We send him back to help Fisher.

Thirteen: We get into a siege situation when we find the other shuttle with Cora Harper and the rest of the Team. Waves of the bone-aliens with the bone-tigers attacking us.

Fourteen: We finally beat back the bone-aliens, but one of our team has a punctured lung, so we need to leave her and our squad medic behind at the shuttle. A shuttle we can't use because of the storms and the constant lightning.

Fifteen: We meet up with my Dad, who has a plan to stop the storms by interfacing SAM with one of the black towers we saw on our way in. To get there, we assault a bone-alien base, blow through their defenses, get into another siege situation while Dad and SAM hack into the tower, and then, just as we thought we were in the clear, the god-damned tower blows up, shatters my visor, exposing me to the poisonous atmosphere of the planet, and Dad decides to play the hero and save my worthless skin by giving me his helmet, and transferring Pathfinder authority to me!

Fuck! Fuck! …Just… Fuck!

 _ **{Ryder doesn't speak for several minutes, as he cries.}**_

 _{Do you want to continue?}_

No SAM, I don't. But I need to.

Why did he do it? Why? Did he feel he owed me something? Didn't want Sara to be alone? He was the fucking Pathfinder! An N7 for crying out loud! The guy who fucking pushed the Initiative through for gods-sake! Why would he throw all that away? Why…?

Now I'm back on the Hyperion. We left Habitat 7 three days ago. Long-range scanners have picked up the Nexus signal, circling a small gas-giant. We'll be there in the next twenty-four hours or so. Then if we're lucky, and the other arks are at the station, we can find out exactly what's happened in the Heleus Cluster since we left our home galaxy.

As if we could be so lucky.

Here's hoping.

 **SAM: end recording.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thoughts from Andromeda part 4**

By ElementalsAdvocate

 **...**

 **SAM: Begin recording.**

Can I just go back to my cryo-pod and pretend this was all just a horrible dream?

We finally reached the Nexus a few hours ago. First thing we notice when we arrive is that the station, while it has isn't even finished yet, and none of the other arks are anywhere to be found. So we dock the Hyperion with the Nexus, and the three of us: Cora, Liam, and myself as the new Pathfinder, head down to the docking port to check in. Liam was jovial, expecting a champagne reception. What we got was an un-lit common room packed with crates, forgotten equipment and an out-of-date Avina VI spouting off info like we were standing amongst thousands of eager colonists.

Finally, we found a lonely technician poking around inside a malfunctioning electrical junction, and asked him where everybody was. The kid just stared at us like we were ghosts, and started babbling about how none of the other arks had shown up, and how the people on the Nexus thought we were all dead.

At that moment a turian in full-body armor walked out of the gloom to join us. He introduced himself a Tiran Kandros, head of the militia on the Nexus, thanked the spirits for our coming, and asked us to follow him to the Nexus Operations center to talk with the directors. On the way Kandros did his best to give us the high-lights of the last fourteen months since the Nexus arrived in Andromeda.

In a nutshell, upon arriving in Heleus, the Nexus was hit by the same energy cloud of dark energy that the Hyperion struck over Habitat 7. The cloud, which the people on the Nexus dubbed "The Scourge", did some serious damage to the station, not least of which was wiping out most of the Initiative's leadership. When the arks didn't show up, and with the loss of the Initiative leaders and backers, the crew turned upon itself in mutiny. When the mutiny was put down, the mutineers were kicked off the station to fend for themselves, while the remaining crew attempted to keep the station functioning, with limited success.

By the time we reached Ops, any confidence I might have had was slipping fast. But when we walked in, every last drop of confidence I had disappeared like water beneath the Sahara sun. The primary lights were still off, even at the nerve center of the Nexus, with the only lights coming from the holographic control panels at waist height and pale emergency lights around the edges of the room, so all those faces were lit from below with a pale, luminous quality but kept them partly in shadow.

Probably would have been less eerie if I'd been confronted by a pack of ghosts in the middle of a calm dark night at sea. Thinking about it still gives me shivers.

Thankfully Kandros broke the spell, excusing himself and pointing us towards a couple of figures coming out of the gloom, which turned out to be the Directors of the Andromeda Initiative; The _new_ Directors of the Initiative.

Director Jarun Tann: a salarian. Almost seven feet tall, tall even for a salarian, but lean; his skin is a kind of grey-off-red like sun-scorched lava rocks, with bright pink around the pupil-less eyes and thin pouting lips.

Director Foster Addison, head of Colonial Affairs: About my height, anywhere between thirty or forty years old, (though nowadays, who knows), short orange hair, large watchful eyes, and a thin, disapproving mouth.

After introductions, Tann asked where my father was.

(Yeah, I had been kind of dreading this moment, too.)

When Tann and Addison found out what happened with Dad and Habitat 7, they didn't explode. It was kind of like that feeling you get when you miss a stair in the dark: you can feel your foot still going down, and part of your mind is shunting into panic mode, while the other half of your brain is calculating how long until you hit the next stair, all the while pondering whether you're going to keep your footing, or whether you're about to take an express train to the bottom.

When they found out that I was the new Pathfinder, Addison looked like she'd swallowed an inverted lemon. That was when we finally got the rest of the story. None of the seven golden worlds had panned out: ecological disasters, alien attack, and not least the Scourge, had driven the Initiative to the brink. Without the Pathfinders to go out and fully assess the worlds: on the ground, foot-by-foot, with the best scanners money could buy, the most powerful analyzer minds could create backing them up (no need to get a swelled head SAM), the Initiative's attempts at colonization had met with failure after failure. Without leadership, without direction, and morale slipping, the mutiny had been inevitable. Now, fourteen months after the Nexus had arrived in Heleus, the Initiative was in crisis mode. Rationed food supplies had been squeaked out to the breaking point. Power levels were barely above emergency. And now, just as they thought their troubles were at an end with the Hyperion's arrival, they find out that the last senior member of the Initiatives leadership, Alec Ryder, was dead, and his replacement as Pathfinder was one of his untested children.

(If you can hear creaking sounds, that's my clenched teeth).

At that moment, a krogan of all things interceded on my behalf, telling the others politely but firmly to count their blessings and not look a gift horse in the mouth (I'm paraphrasing of course). At which point Addison marched off in a huff, and Tann made a dignified retreat back to his office, stealing Cora to bring him up to speed on the events of Habitat 7, the Hyperion, and to arrange the use of a scout ship for our Pathfinder team.

The krogan introduced herself as Nakmor Kesh, and apparently she's the Superintendent for the Nexus. According to her, that means she keeps the place running. I found out later that she helped design and build the Nexus and all the Arks. When I asked her why she stood up for me, she pulled me over to the big panoramic windows that looked out over the Nexus.

Now, while all this had been going on, procedures had been taking place to hook up the Hyperion's primary power core to the grid on the Nexus. As Kesh and I approached the window, large blast shields that had been covering the windows slowly retracted out of the way, and we were looking out across the lower, unfinished wards of the Nexus. What Kesh said next:

"Now you're here, we're keeping the lights on. You have my vote." Then she walked away, just like that commenting over her hump that I should come and talk to her sometime.

I just stood there, leaning on the rail, looking out over the Nexus and the luminous, blue-grey gases that swirled from the planet we orbited.

I stood there for a long time.

 **SAM: End recording.**

This is real, isn't it SAM?

 _{Various philosophical opinions aside: yes.}_

Yeah. That's what I thought.


	5. Chapter 5

Thoughts from Andromeda part 5

By ElementalsAdvocate

 **Year 2819, Andromeda Galaxy, Heleus Cluster, The Tempest, Pathfinder's Cabin**

 _ **Scott walks into the cabin, undresses, then lies down in bed after saying he wants to do some journaling.**_

SAM, kill the lights. **Begin recording.**

Well, this is it. I'm now off on my first mission as Pathfinder. The Director's want be to do recon on a planet we've named Eos, also known as Habitat 1. Kallo, my navigator, says that it'll be another eight-to-twelve hours before we reach Eos, so I'm taking what time I can to recuperate and collect my thoughts.

It's been less than a day since the Hyperion docked with the Nexus, and we found out just how close the Initiative is to snapping under its own weight. Now it's up to me to try and start turning this… thing… whatever it is… around. And the Director's aren't much help.

… Okay I take it back. Kesh was helpful, and at least Tann's willing to jump on a chance to make things better when he sees it. Addison's a bitch though.

 **SAM, pause.** Delete that last sentence. **Resume recording.** Thank you.

Addison. I don't know why that lady gets under my skin. Well, actually I kind of do. That crack she made about Dad. She referred to him as "Alec", when everybody I've ever met on the Initiative referred to him as "The Pathfinder", "Pathfinder Ryder", "Ryder", or some variant of the three. I figured she might have been a close friend or colleague, someone who might be able to fill me in on some blanks where Dad was concerned. When I asked about it, she said she did it because calling him Pathfinder was presumptuous since he hadn't "found" anything. When I asked her what their relationship was, she said "Don't worry. I'm not your new mother."

God, I was that close to smacking that condescending smile right off her face. Sara probably would have.

Okay, bitchiness aside, things actually seemed to be looking up in the Nexus. Hooking up the Hyperion's power core and turning the lights on probably had something to do with it.

"It is better to light one candle than to curse the darkness." Hunh. Wonder who said that?

I like Kesh. Hell, I may be in love with her. That krogan lady is a god-damn rock of good-sense, and definitely easier to deal with than Tann or Addison. Though, I wouldn't like to get on her bad side. She could probably snap me in two with one fist.

Director Tann. Kesh called him an "opportunist". I can see that. He's salarian. Quick in years, quick in mind, quick in decision – at least in comparison to the rest of us in the Initiative. Kesh likes to call him "Eighth" because he was eighth in line to take over before the disaster with the Scourge killed Jien Garson and the rest of the directors. Being an opportunist isn't necessarily a bad thing in a leader, but… given his track record thus far, I can't say I'm not concerned. Tann's set on a life-schedule and a perspective that sets him at slightly-cross purposes to the rest of the species on the Nexus, the krogan especially.

The krogan… Now that's a gods-damned mess if I ever saw one. I haven't had a chance to look at the logs during the mutiny yet, but after what I've heard, I'm not optimistic about meeting up the krogan; not after everything they've put up with. In fact, until further notice, if I happen to meet a krogan while I'm out Pathfinding, I'll just head in the other direction if I can.

What else? Hmm… Well, I've got this brand-spanking-new ship. The Tempest she's called. Whether it's after the storm or Shakespeare's play I don't know.

 **SAM, pause recording.**

This is just between you and me, you understand? I don't want Kallo to find out.

Of course, Scott.

When I first saw the Tempest, I kind of felt… off about her, ok? Something about her lines, her proportions seems out-of-whack. The Alliance ships were all sleek, like birds of prey in mid-flight, all the time. When I saw her on the landing pad, the first thing that came to mind was a pelican, with this long thin bow for two-thirds of the ships length, and then immediately dips and bulges into the aft section with the drive core and the cargo bay. Maybe it's because she was designed by a Salarian. Kallo's so proud of her.

Damn, I'm calling the Tempest "her" now. I guess it's catching. Sorry Tempest, but I have only just met you. I'm sure I'll learn to love you as we get to know each other.

 **Resume recording SAM.**

The Tempest is a scout ship: small, maneuverable, and fast, really fast. No main gun, light armor, and not much space for cargo… but, she's got an enormous power-core, and all that power is going to go towards getting us from point A to point B, in one piece, as quickly as possible.

With the Scourge out there, that's more important than ever. Heh. I got to say, I am looking forward to putting Tempest through her paces.

I'm getting ahead of myself. After the Hyperion's core was hooked into the Nexus power grid and the lights came back on, I took a few minutes and just walked around Ops, getting a feel for the place. Everything is in white, a kind of soft white like clouds. More and more personnel came in, looking like they'd just been dragged out of a tomb, eyes blinking in the light, faces and limbs ever so slightly off their feed, reaction times blurred or enhanced by the changes in the vicinity. Fuckin' scary.

First I swung by Kesh's office just off of Ops to chat. She looked busy, standing behind this enormous crescent moon of a desk covered with banks of holographic consoles clicking and humming away, displaying information gathered by sensors across the station before its analyzed, organized, and finally displayed across the consoles. Kesh's long three-fingered hands move deftly yet deliberately from one haptic interface to the next, large reptilian eyes absorbing the information in moments before flipping the screen aside and drawing up the next one, all the while giving out a never ending stream of commands, instructions, and the occasional word of praise, to her engineering teams in that deep, throaty, musical contralto voice.

… My god… I really am in love with her. Heh heh, he he he...

{Ryder lies in bed, chuckling, apparently at himself and his statement, for approximately thirty seconds before continuing.}

Anyway, Kesh noticed me across the room and motioned me over. Introductions aside, she took some time and filled me in on what had been going on with the station and what I might do to improve things. She didn't go into too many details; partly I think because she didn't want to influence me too much before meeting Tann, but she clearly disdain's Director Tann, and though she sympathizes with Addison, she'd prefer it if Addison would stop being so bitchy and actually find some work to do. She's frustrated that she can't get more done, and wishes that Kandros would help her create a sort of balance block for Tann's ego and Addison's edginess.

After that I asked some general questions about the krogan being on the Nexus and Kesh's involvement as the Superintendant, before I excused myself and Kesh went seamlessly back to her reports.

Thus fortified, I went to meet Tann. His office is located just off of Operations opposite Kesh's office, where he can keep a finger on the pulse of the Nexus at all times I suppose, and that's where I found him, listening intently as Cora pointed to a holographic display of Habitat 7, highlighting something before noticing me come in. He straightened in his chair and stood. Most salarians are taller than humans, but Tann is really tall. I don't see how someone could get that size and still be nothing but an administrator.

Five minutes talking with the froggy bastard made me wish I was back behind a desk on Relay Station 202 in the Milky Way. Tann isn't a bureaucrat, though he was originally the Deputy Assistant of Revenue Management for the Nexus; he's too composed, too electric for a bureaucrat. No, whatever he was before, Tann's a politician now.

"I oversee the entire Initiative and I've decided to give you a chance to prove yourself." Those were his words, like he was some kind of all-seeing, all-powerful commander: Like he had any other choice of Pathfinder.

Kesh had told me in short words that, at the height of the Nexus mutiny, when the mutineers seemed on the verge of toppling Tann's ineffective ass from his throne as Director, one of Tann's underlings cut a deal with the head of the Krogan clans on the Nexus: putting down the mutiny, forcefully, and in return the krogan would get more say on the station. Well, if there's one thing krogan are good at as a species it's fighting, and the rebellion was put down in short order and the malcontent's exiled. Then, when the krogan asked Tann to make good on the deal, the underling conveniently "forgot" that any deal had been made, and Tann ran with that angle until the all the krogan left the Nexus in disgust. When I asked Tann about it, he coolly stated that the Krogan were brutes from the start, who couldn't be allowed to get out of hand by allowing greater access to the station and its facilities.

Considering that I'd just talked with a krogan in one of the highest levels of control and authority on the Nexus, his argument didn't hold any water with me.

I kept my comments to myself though, and played "simple-yet-professional" to the hilt, and got out of there as soon as Tann confirmed that the team and I would be getting the scout ship he promised.

I swung by Ops and that's where Addison caught me. She grilled me about what happened with Dad; not how he died (she'd already gone over the logs concerning what happened on Habitat 7), but why he broke protocol and made me the Pathfinder instead of Cora, his second-in-command.

I don't want to talk about it. Talking about Addison right now… no.

After Addison got done grilling me, I headed back to the Hyperion, and spent the next thirty minutes or so just cooling my head under a sink. I visited the med-bay. The doctors had taken Sara out of her stasis pod, opting to let her wake up on her own, rather than trying to force her to wake up and possibly damaging her mind.

Fuck– if anything happens to her…

She's the only family I've got in the world now SAM. She's the only family I've got in the whole damn _universe_ , now. If anything else happens to her… If she dies… I don't know what I'll do.

{Scott doesn't speak for several minutes, lying in bed and staring up at the ceiling.}

Nothing I can do. Shit. That's got to be the worst phrase out there. "Nothing I can do." Nothing I can do but sit and wait while she just lies there and tries to come out of the coma on her own. Nothing I can do.

Fisher and Greer both survived Habitat 7 with the rest of us. In fact, we only lost two people: Kirkland the pilot and Dad. But their first taste of Andromeda seems to have put the fear of God into them. They've both quit the Pathfinder team. So did Hayley, our communications specialist who was gut-shot during the siege battle with the kett, and Harry our squad medic. Harry's getting on in years, and after Habitat 7 decided that running around the galaxy was a young man's game. He'll be staying with the Nexus and Ark Hyperion, taking care of the colonists we pull out of stasis, and watching over Sara. He's promised to let me know ASAP if there's any change.

In Harry's place we've got an asari, Doctor Lexi T'Perro. I've met her before, right after I was pulled out of cryo-stasis, when she administered the sensory test to make sure I wasn't feeling any adverse effects from the six-hundred year nap. She was also the one who helped pull me through the Pathfinder transference, after Dad- died… Yeah. Need to talk to her about that. The Pathfinder thing, anyway.

{I can tell you anything you want to know about the specifics of the transfer, Scott.}

Yeah SAM, I know, but I can use it as a way to get to know her without saying anything blatant. Social skills, remember. The thing you're supposed to be getting out of this partnership?

{… Understood, Pathfinder.}

Yeah, understood. Anyway… yeah, I'm still trying to wrap my head around what you told me in SAM Node after I left Sara in the Med-bay.

Heh, one mystery solved though: I found out how Dad was such a fucking uber-man at his age. Turns out, included with our SAM's upgrade for full A.I. status, Dad developed a way for SAM to boost a Pathfinder's abilities; Profiles he called them. Apparently he used the N Specialist training from the Alliance Special Operations as a frame-work, and built the Profiles accordingly.

See, after someone got into the N Program, (designation N for Special Operations in the Systems Alliance) they would be designated as a Specialist after certain kinds of training and proof of skill.

The Soldier Profile is pretty self-explanatory: a pure combat focus on weapons and tactics.

Engineer Profile: a combat engineer on pure Helium-3, enhancing tech run-times and cool-downs, while being simultaneously backed up by a combat-drone equipped with shield generators and a defense protocol to take out enemies that get too close.

The Adept Profile: Pure biotics, throwing around the usual magical blue bull-shit without the years of training usually required.

The other three classes are hybrids of sorts: Vanguard, Sentinel, and Infiltrator.

Infiltrator is pretty self-explanatory; improving weapon systems for more power, boosting tech in favor of stealth, enemy detection, and long-range attacks.

The Vanguard combines brutal biotic attacks with CQB (Close-Quarters-Battle) transforming the biotic artillery piece that is the Adept, into a combination of ballistic missile and battering ram, getting into the enemies front lines and shattering them completely from within.

The Sentinel Profile is a little more difficult to describe. It combines biotics and tech in such a way that the Sentinel becomes a kind of mobile enhancement platform, essentially combining the tech enhancing skills of the Engineer with the barrier and biotic capabilities of the Adept. If I read the codex correctly, the best way for the Sentinel to work is to hang at the back, observing the battlefield and deploying tech and biotics as needed from a distance. Normally I'd say this would make the Sentinel a prime target for a sniper or artillery, but the profile also deploys simultaneous tech-armor, improving the Sentinels defenses. In that light, the Sentinel is a mobile armored artillery piece. Heh, that actually sounds pretty cool.

There's another Profile in the group, the Explorer Profile, which as I see it, is a kind of Jack-Of-All-Trades, combining Combat, Biotics, and Tech abilities. It looks like it isn't quite finished yet. There might be something special to it, but I don't think I'll touch it just yet.

Ok, after going over things in SAM Node, I went back to the Nexus to find my team and get the show on the road. Tann finally messaged me, saying that my ship was cleared to leave. My first mission was to investigate a planet the Initiative had dubbed Eos, also known as Habitat 1. Back in the Milky Way, Habitat 1 had been seen as a rocky and desert world except for up near the poles. While not as attractive as the tropical paradise that had been Habitat 7 or the jungles of Habitat 3, it was the closest Habitat to the Nexus.

Twice outposts had been built on Eos. Twice, the colonists had been driven off the planet: by sandstorms laced with high levels of gamma radiation, by poor growing conditions, not enough water, hostile wildlife, and hostile aliens. However, both outposts had recorded the presence of black monoliths; extremely similar to the monoliths we'd found on Habitat 7.

Dad tried to interface with those monoliths on Habitat 7, and had managed to fix the sky long enough for us to get off the planet safety. Even if he… died, he did manage to do something.

Anyway, Tann wants us to investigate Eos, take a look at what happened to our previous outposts, find out what happened and why, and with SAM's help, discover if we can't find a way to get the monoliths to work for us and clean up the planet.

Cora messaged me, saying she was already at the docks and waiting. I found Liam holed up in the Security office outside Operations, talking with some of the staff. Apparently, things are pretty dismal all around, as if that point hadn't been made perfectly clear to me already.

I also took some time to talk to Kandros. Technically, his title is Director of Nexus Security, but he apparently hates the title in company, so I just dropped it and talked to him, one shit-kicker to another. I call him a shit-kicker because he got his job when shit came calling and he kicked the hell out of it, the shit in this case being the bone-aliens we met on Habitat 7.

Nexus identifies these aliens as "Kett", an old Turian word that means bone. I also found an obscure reference to an English slang that means "shit". Considering that kett blood is the color of something I've seen in the toilet, I think I'll stick to the Turian translation.

Anyway, during a patrol on a nearby world, Kandros was captured by the Kett and placed in a camp with a bunch of other prisoners. Not wanting to stick around to find out what Kett do to their prisoners, Kandros found a way to break out, leading a team of militia and liberating the camp from within. When Kandros returned to the Nexus, he was hailed as a hero, and Tann made him the new Director of Nexus security.

Not because he wanted the job, Kandros told me, but because the previous occupant had led the exiles during the mutiny, leaving with them and Tann needed some kind of popular figure with military experience to take the position. "Service before self", is a kind of Turian Hierarchy maxim, so Kandros took on the task without complaining. Problem was, he'd never had any kind of leadership experience, and frankly out of his depth. Explains why Kesh is frustrated with him for not helping her create a balance against Tann's opportunistic policies.

Nevertheless, Kandros seems to have done pretty well. He's kept the Nexus from tearing itself apart, security in place, the militia trained, and he's even put together some assets together for special missions and tasks that require military answers. APEX Forces, (Andromeda Protectors Extraordinaire, or something; I forgot to ask Kandros what APEX stands for.) Anyway, since I'm the Pathfinder now, I have the privilege of utilizing APEX assets while out in Andromeda. Kandros treats this as a kind of given, but I get the feeling that if the teams start coming back dead, my privilege might be revoked by a higher authority.

Shit.

So, I checked out a couple of missions, looked at the available teams, and made the assignments. Hopefully, everybody will come back alive. Then I said good-bye to Kandros and went to grab Liam. Only, on my way through the office, I get flagged down by this turian lady, who's just standing in the middle of everything muttering about how things "aren't right" and everyone is sort of carefully avoiding her.

If I have one flaw SAM, it's that I can't help but stick my nose into other people's business. It's something that got Sara and I into trouble for over and over. If someone was feeling down, if someone was in trouble, we'd get involved. The brainy kid getting bullied, the autistic kid in a fit, the outsider hanging on the edge of the crowd longing to play but too shy to speak up; yeah, that was us. Only thing is, in the past it would be Sara taking point, smiling sweetly and asking questions, while I would hang back at her shoulder, watching the edges and the angles for signs of trouble, ready to back her up or pull her out. I know it probably sounds silly considering that we were only six when we started doing this, but when you're the only biotics in a school, and everyone knows who and what you are, we learned the value of the buddy system pretty damn quickly.

So, without Sara to lead, I needed to make do. Turns out, the turian woman's husband, a security officer named Nilken Rensus, had been charged with the murder of a superior officer while under attack from the kett. According to Nilken's wife, the evidence was circumstantial, but a witness's testimony made Nilken the first murderer in Heleus.

Tann intended to exile Nilken as soon as a suitable world or destination could be found, and meanwhile Rensus was stewing in jail on the Nexus. Like a burr under a horse's saddle, his presence itched at the public consciousness, and despite pleas for clemency or appeal from Nilken's wife, the sentence will likely be carried out. Nilken's wife, Mariette, asked me to take a look at the evidence and see if there was anything that might exonerate her husband.

How do I get myself into these messes?

Of course, I say yes, and I spent the next half hour going from place to place. I talked to Nilken in the cells. I talked to Kandros. I talked to the witness. I listened to the security tapes of Nilken arguing with his

Apparently, during the Nexus's second attempt to colonize Eos, the outpost they built came under attack by the kett. The outpost's head of security, Chief Reynolds, wanted to make a preemptive strike under the cover of a sand-storm to wipe out the kett in the area. Nilken argued for evacuating back to the Nexus. Words were said, and words dissolved into blows, before Nilken had to be pulled off of Reynolds. Later, under the march through the sandstorm, the attack force led by Reynolds was forced to split up, and Nilken had command of the second group. In the sand, the two groups thought the other was the enemy. Nilken saw a figure in the storm and fired. A witness, another officer, saw someone fire at Reynolds and saw Reynolds fall. Almost immediately, both groups were attacked by kett, and when the fighting was over, Nilken was found in a depressed daze. Shortly afterward, the colony was abandoned and the people ran back to the Nexus at speed, forced to leave the dead where they lay, including the body of Chief Reynolds.

The bottom line: Nilken says he fired at Reynolds because he took the Chief for a kett in the storm and killed him by accident. The prosecution says that the act was deliberate, a coup so that Nilken could assume command, escape the planet, and escape punishment by claiming he didn't recognize Reynolds when he shot at him. Without more evidence to exonerate or damn him, Nilken's going to get kicked off the Nexus. And that evidence is on Eos; two birds, one stone.

I finally got out of Ops with a final promise to Mariette that I would, indeed, do my best to find something on Eos to clarify things. Cora was waiting for me in the shuttle by that time, impatiently taping her foot. When Liam arrived at the pad before I did, she decided to hunt me down. Soon as the shuttle doors closed, she sent a message ahead to ask about the ship. The now familiar flange-tinted voice of a turian came over the wire with a confident growl "In final checks and looking great." That would be my first taste of the rather extraordinary individual we were about to meet.

The docking pads for smaller ships and shuttles are actually located inside the habitat ring that connects the upper and lower wards of the Nexus. The habitat ring is a phenomenal open space, a massive protected tube, filled with shops, homes, and trees; lots and lots of trees and other green things, which makes sense considering that we need enough oxygen for an entire station.

Upon arriving at the docking pad and getting my first look at the Tempest, Cora and I proceeded to the pad itself for departure. When we got there, the lean, angular figure of a female turian stood above the workers loading crates into the cargo bay.

"Let's pick it up a bit, people! We're fourteen months late!" The turian turned around in time to catch sight of us coming across the pad. "So you're the one that's making everything happen," she called out before handing the crate she carried to another worker and striding lithely over to greet us. "Vetra. Vetra Nyx: Initiative wrangler, provision-er, gunner, and everything in between. Are we ready? The sooner we get out of here, the better."

And didn't we find out how. No sooner then we started going up the ramp to board the Tempest, when some guy comes running across the pad towards us, yelling about lists and regulations. Apparently, because some of our supplies included colonizing gear, and colonization was Director Addison's purview, this little bureaucrat wasn't going to let us leave until Director Addison received, "… a complete report of the Tempest's supplies, munitions, and crew." Suddenly, we're looking at even more delays. Then, Vetra pulls the guy over to one side, and starts talking. She knows the guy's name, his job, and that he got a son that's still in cryo-stasis, on a waiting list, and promises to pull some strings to get the kid out in return for signing off on their departure that minute. The guy hesitates for a few seconds, mumbles something about how "Addison's going to kill me", and gives the ok.

I haven't seen sweet-talk that smooth since that time an asari smuggler convinced my CO to let her freighter through Relay 202 security with a load of illegal joy-juice and spices. And Vetra didn't even have tits.

Whoa, bad thought. **SAM pause Recording.** Delete that last passage. **Resume recording.** Thank you.

So, Vetra, Cora, and I boarded the Tempest. The Tempest is a lot bigger on the inside, but everyone's itching to get under way, so after a quick tour we go straight to the bridge. That's where I met Kallo Jath, our salarian pilot and navigator; shorter than Tann, and a sort of dusty red rather than grey. He's friendly at least; eager as any of us to get underway. He explains the various features of the Tempest, notably the primary navigation console at the head of the bridge, directly in front of the enormous, clear, wrap-around window that gives an amazing view of everything immediately in front and to port and starboard of the Tempest. The interface was specifically built for a Pathfinder and SAM.

As I stood there, on the bridge, with the crew standing behind me, letting me take it all in, I was suddenly reminded of something.

Back when I was on peacekeeping duties with the Systems Alliance, I had this buddy who would sing this little song under his breath whenever we ended up in a bad situation and our superiors would tell us to keep moving forward despite the danger.

" _We're neck deep in the Big Muddy_

 _And the damn fool keeps yelling…_

 _To "Push on!"_

That's us now. We're neck deep in shit and if we go any further we might end up in over our heads, all because the directors are damn fools who can't keep their shit together.

But the thing is… they're not the damn fools. I am. I'm the damn fool who says we can't fail, who said we need to press on, in spite of the dangers. And we can't turn around. Even if we loaded everybody up in the Hyperion right now and headed back to the Milky Way, it'd still be another six-hundred years before we get there.

Twelve-hundred years plus just to say we failed. Fuck that. I made that clear just before we kicked off the pad and headed off into the ether.

"Space. The final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Tempest. Its mission: to find a home for the people of the Nexus and the Arks. To explore strange new worlds. To seek out new life, and new civilizations. To boldly go where no one has gone before."

At least, that's what I would have liked to say. In reality, I just told Kallo to get the Tempest on the move and everyone to get to their posts. Maybe it would have been better, or maybe everyone would have just laughed.

I've probably started everyone off on the wrong foot. Shit. Can't go back now. Just gotta remember, "We're not dead yet."

We're not dead… yet.

Shit…

Ffff….

And I am not going to get any fucking sleep on that note. SAM, I'm going to do some cardio, clear my head. Stop me in an hour so I can find Lexi for a sleeping aid.

 **End recording.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Thoughts from Andromeda, part 6**

By ElementalsAdvocate

 **Year 2819, Andromeda Galaxy, Heleus Cluster, Pytheus System, Planet: Eos (Habitat 1), Outpost 1: Promise, The Tempest, Pathfinder's Cabin**

…

 **SAM, begin recording.**

Well, we made it. Habitat 1. Eos. Two words: Radioactive. Sandbox.

When we hit the Pytheas System, SAM immediately detected the same kind of signal that he received on Habitat 7, namely that the monoliths on the planet were having an adverse reaction to the presence of the Scourge in the atmosphere. In response, the monolith's on Eos were messing with the atmosphere, tearing apart the layers necessary to keep most of the suns radiation off the planet, and made worse by the radiation given off by the Scourge. Presumably, if SAM and I could figure out a way to interface with the monoliths like Dad did, we might be able to turn things around.

Yeah; Easier said than done.

We slipped into orbit, and Kallo set us up for a sensor pass of the planet to home in on the signal. As we swooped in, the Pytheas's sun loomed over the horizon, momentarily blinding me where I stood. I raised one hand to shield my face, but then… something weird happened.

It was like, for a few seconds, everything fuzzed out except for silhouette of the sun in my eyes, and in that moment, I heard voices, unclear but distinct, as if I was standing in another room and listening through the wall. Then everything seemed to come back into focus, and I realized that Liam was trying to speak to me. He mentioned how everyone has their hopes pinned on us, how Eos kicked everyone in the gut and sent them running, leaving their dead behind. Then he seemed to catch himself and realize what he'd said and to whom.

I could have lit into him, could have spilled my heart to him, blown him off. Instead, I gave him the reassurance he wanted, told him we had the best gear, the best tools, the best people for the job, that we were ready for whatever came, and then sent him down to the armory to suit up.

We landed in the middle of Promise, the first outpost set down on Eos by the Nexus colonists. You know how in old vids, where a person comes onto the main street of a ghost-town, and all the houses sit still and stony like the faces on Easter Island, but the stuff inside them looks like the people only just left? Yeah, that was Promise.

The four of us walked off the ship that first time into the light of a setting sun: Vetra, Liam, Cora, and myself. Our plan was simply to take a walk around the colony, gathering data on what had happened, and hopefully find something that might help us figure out how to colonize the planet without getting any more of our people killed.

Due to the radiation storms sweeping across the planet, Promise had been built inside the protection of a box canyon, with high canyon walls immediately north and east of the colony, with a large rock formation jutting out above the landscape and protecting the southeast. Unfortunately, the winds carrying the radiation blew predominantly from the south-west, so whenever a storm came up, the canyon would be inundated with high winds and scouring sands. Despite powerful shield generators built to keep the worst of the radiation out of the colony, anyone who stepped out of the buildings without a protective suit ran the risk of radiation exposure. Anyone who stepped outside the colony shields, with or without a suit, would be dead of radiation poisoning within hours. Working under conditions like that must have been like having a death sentence hanging over your head. Screw up once, and you're dead. Screw up badly enough, and other people, all your family and friends, die with you.

Heh, kind of like the predicament we're in now.

So, our first job was to reactivate the colony sensors. Lucky for us, the shield generators the colonists built to keep out the radiation and the worst of the storms were still up and running, so we were able to walk around the colony without needing to worry about suddenly puking blood. Even so, everyone was wearing a full set of environmental gear and body-armor just in case.

As we walked through the colony, Cora and I took time to scan the area and the gear left behind by the colonists while Liam and Vetra kept watch, uploading our findings directly to SAM and the computers on the Tempest science labs for analysis. Crates and boxes lay scattered about where they'd been pushed by the winds or dropped in haste. A heavy hauler sat abandoned on the main road, its painted-yellow sides scoured by the sand. A wind turbine, its support pole snapped in two, a shorn propeller lying forlornly nearby half covered in drifting sand. And that's just some of the stuff we found outside the dozen or so modular buildings scattered in a circle around a natural spring in the middle of the canyon. The stuff inside was even more depressing, and not a little spooky.

Inside the buildings we found that weren't code-locked or shut down for lack of power, we found chairs and computers scattered about, papers and pads on the floor, knocked over in a rush to leave the doomed outpost. We found boxes that had been pried open to get at the belongings left inside, cupboards and drawers ripped open, panels gaping exposing wires and conduits, stripped of salvage. In one abandoned apartment, there was enough data from the internal sensors for SAM to paint the conversation between the grim faced security officer, Zed Wilcox, and Promise's one-time mayor, Anna Farthingale, discussing in hushed tones the dwindling chances of success, and how many more might need to perish before they finally retreated back to the Nexus.

We also… found our first body. It was behind the buildings on the north side, tucked in under some pipes. A human, Theo J. Harwell, face down in the sands. Apparently he took a lethal dose of radiation, probably from going outside the colony shields. He couldn't make it to the buildings, so he just crawled into shelter among the pipes and died, alone.

If the team wasn't sober by then, we were damn sober afterwards. Liam looked like someone had slugged him in the gut. Cora's eyes got this distant look, like she was seeing something else besides the dead colonist. Vetra just looked tired and sad.

We tagged the body for retrieval later and kept moving.

We finally figured out how to access the colony sensors. Damn things were behind a code-locked door, but apparently half the colony either knew or couldn't remember the code, so we eventually discovered that it was written down and recorded in half-a-dozen different places. Then we had to get power to the buildings to turn the damn things on.

Our search eventually took us to the north-east end of the colony and the Power Relay Building, built underneath the outcrop. That's when we met our first snag. The place was locked from the inside, and when we knocked, a voice came over the intercom from inside. A guy calling himself Clancy thought we were salvagers, come to scavenge what we could from the abandoned outpost. When I told him I was the Pathfinder, he laughed, but he kept talking. Apparently kett were patrolling the area, and if we turned on the generators, they'd come running.

Well, that just made things easier. We wouldn't have to waste any time looking for the bony bastards.

I convinced Clancy to turn the power back on and promised that we would deal with the kett when they arrived. We had to go back and restart the generators manually, but that just gave us time to get ready. When the first kett dropship swam over the top of the canyon walls and landed next to the relay station, we were damn ready.

Vetra opened up with her custom-modded assault rifle turned lite mini-gun that made a sound like a howling wind (fitting since the thing was named Cyclone), and cut one of the kett almost in half. The others scattered, taking cover behind crates and blast shields set up by the colonists in case of an attack like this. Unfortunately for the kett, we were prepared for this. Harper did a biotic charge to the ketts right flank and opened up with her shot gun. They turned to deal with Cora, Vetra and I advanced, systematically advancing by fire and cover and eliminating the kett as we moved, while Liam moved up to flank opposite Cora.

Then the second dropship swept over the ridgeline and disgorged another patrol, this one backed up by a couple of heavies with kinetic shields and full mini-guns. They opened up on Cora who immediately retreated towards me and Vetra, and the Kett advanced, using the same fire and cover tactic Vetra and I had used.

We'd fought heavies like this on Habitat 7. Step One: take down the shields without getting taken down ourselves. I'd gotten some upgrades on the Nexus, including a useful little program called Overload, so named because once it's sent through to another system, it overloads any systems designated. In this case, I overloaded the kett's shields. Didn't take them down completely but it was enough. Vetra cut loose with her Cyclone, and I pounded away at the heavies with my own rifle. Their shields gone, I fired off an Incinerate drone, and turned the heavies into walking funeral pyres.

In my mind, I can still see their silhouettes through the flames. Fuck. I guess this is what you'd call post-traumatic stress. Just another nightmare to look forward to when I go to sleep tonight. Fuck.

With the heavies gone, Liam took the initiative, using his jump jets to hope on top of the relay station before tossing a grenade. The grenade burst, shrapnel flying, the kett making short aborted cries and gasped as they tried to duck out of the way. Most didn't make it.

After that, it was all clean up.

Cora handled it like a professional, one blast from her shotgun for every kett she found alive, making sure each was dead before moving on; every move gracefully mechanical in the way only extensive practice and grueling experience can provide.

Liam was less restrained. He jumped, straight for a pair of kett that had been on the periphery of the grenades blast. He didn't even draw his gun, just went at them, shouting, a brilliant yellow omni-blade blazing on the end of each arm, body-slamming one backwards and then driving into the second. No finesse, striking head, neck, heart, and inner thigh in quick succession, going for the arteries, yellow-hot blades cauterizing the wounds before the kett could even feel the pain of the initial strike. Liam body-checked the dying kett aside, just in time to catch the second kett with a punch that shattered the rapidly cooling blade and driving the pieces into the ketts neck with a _crunch_ before driving the second blade into its guts.

The kett gasped, hands spasming, dropping its gun, reaching out, and fingers grabbing at Liam's arm as he withdrew for another strike.

Luckily Vetra stepped in; her Cyclone holstered in favor of a bulky Carnifex hand-cannon and finished the kett with a double-tap to the chest.

"Don't waste your time," Vetra snapped at Liam. "Finish them quick and move on. Believe me, there's always more!"

At that moment a _third_ kett dropship swung in to view from the south, dropping off its payload of kett grunts (SAM designated them as Chosen, apparently translated from captured kett tech and intelligence gathered by the Nexus). The Chosen, six of them, advanced. But we had the high ground now and the relay station at our backs. Vetra switched back to her Cyclone, Liam pulled out his rifle, Cora switched her shotgun to a solid shot configuration, and I threw another Incineration tech into their midst.

Sixty seconds later, it was over.

The whole fight had taken less than five minutes from start to finish.

In less than five minutes, we'd killed over a dozen Chosen and two of the heavy Anointed.

In less than five minutes, we'd taken on three armed patrols of an alien, hostile race, almost simultaneously, and we wiped the floor with them. We destroyed them.

And it felt… _good_.

 **SAM, pause recording.**

SAM, have you been digging into my memories?

{Yes Scott; though digging may be a misnomer. I am aware of your memories, but I would not drag them up unasked.}

Well, then you must know that I served with an Alliance peacekeeping force.

{Yes.}

So you know about that colony on…?

{Yes.}

Then you also know about…?

{Yes}

Yeah. **SAM, end recording.** I need to think about this; off the record.

{As you wish, Pathfinder.}


	7. Chapter 7

**Thoughts from Andromeda Part 7**

By ElementalsAdvocate

 **Year 2819, Andromeda Galaxy, Heleus Cluster, Pytheus System, Planet: Eos (Habitat 1), Outpost 1: Promise, The Tempest, Pathfinder's Cabin**

 **...**

 **SAM** , **start recording.**

Okay, so… I realize I kind of left my last journal off on a bad note. I was in a bad place. Two bad places as a matter of fact, but that's not something I want to talk about just now.

So where was I? The kett patrol. Yeah. Shit.

I can attribute my feelings to a number of factors: first, I was alive, and the other guys who had been trying to kill me were dead. Also, there's the whole fight/flight response. Nothing I'm not familiar with, but even so. There's also the fact that the bony bastards were responsible for a lot of dead colonists, people with friends and family back on the Nexus, and probably the Arks as well. The kett didn't try to negotiate, or warn people to leave: they just found people wherever they were, and started shooting.

Also, there's the fact that we managed to get through the whole damn fight without anyone getting seriously injured. Considering how things ended the last time we went up against the kett, I don't think it's unjustified that I felt good at the end of that fight.

The kett drop-ships had taken off after depositing the patrols, heading back to who knows where. We watched the skies for five more minutes before we decided that no other visitors were going to drop in unannounced, though I called Kallo to keep an eye on the skies, then we trooped back to the relay station to have a little talk with "Clancy".

Turns out Clancy was Clancy Arquist, a tech out of the Nexus's docking ring. Guy had been making runs to Eos on the sly to scavenge from the outpost, selling his hauls back on the Nexus for extra cash.

He seemed mighty impressed with how we took out the kett, even agreed to sell us some of his salvage on a discount. Even told us about a scout vehicle we could use to get around the canyons without exposing ourselves to the radiation outside the colony, before he scarpered back to his shuttle, muttering something about "crazy blue needing to find someone else to buy scrap from".

The vehicle Clancy talked about was still locked up inside its transport rig, so we needed to call down a forward station from orbit to get the over-ride codes to unlock it. A forward station is a sort of cross between a supply depot and long-range multi-spectrum scanner inside of an iron-titanium shell with rockets so it can be deployed as a satellite in orbit and then deployed on the ground later; loaded with ammo, medi-gel, powerful kinetic barriers, and other essentials for exploration, it also contains a powerful ground-penetrating radar system, allowing my team and I to identify large mineral deposits that can be mined with drones so our colonists won't be at risk. A handy little system, and only available through Pathfinder authority which is a plus; I just hope nobody figures out how to hack into it.

Anyway, the forward station drops into the middle of Promise from orbit, we get the over-ride codes for the crate; three minutes later, we pop it open, and out she comes in all her glory: The Nomad ND1 all-terrain rover.

Imagine what it would look like if a Mako tank fucked a dune buggy and they had a kid, and you'd be pretty damn close. I found out later that the ND1 was actually designed from the Mako chassis. Man, I always wanted to drive one of those monsters. But the Nomad is a beast in a class of its own. Six-wheel drive, rear fuel injection boost, helium-3 micro thrusters, kinetic barriers, a hermetic seal for deployment in a vacuum, a full-life support system, radiation shielding, and a ground penetrating radar system with an on-hand omni-forge for flash-forging and deploying mining drones. The only thing the Nomad doesn't have is fire-power. But, as they say, you can't have everything.

We spent a few minutes spinning around the outpost, getting a feel for the Nomad, and then we had to make a decision. The Nomad only had seats for three people; therefore one of us had to stay behind with the Tempest. There was a monolith nearby that I wanted to check out, so I had to go because… well, I am the Pathfinder. I kept it simple. I broke a couple of twigs off a nearby bush and made one of them shorter than the rest. My team drew straws, and Liam lucked out. He wasn't happy about it, but he agreed to stay put while the three of us headed off to take a closer look at the monolith.

I've got to say, driving the Nomad was a dream come true. The roar of the engine, the lightness, the weight, the response, the power… Words just can't describe it. After everything we'd been through, it felt good to feel in control of something powerful. Is that weird? I don't know. Probably something from long ago, something... ah, fuck it. Doesn't matter anyway.

After we left Promise we stuck to the canyon wall. Turns out whomever placed Promise inadvertently stuck it on top of geologically unstable ground. SAM's projections indicate that the canyon bottom will give out some time in the next couple of years, and drop the entire outpost with it. After we left the colony, we nearly fell head-first into a stony sinkhole that already had a couple of habitat blocks hanging precariously over the edge.

Up a steep bank, with the Nomad's six-wheel drive engaged, we came up onto a broad shelf overlooking the basin of the Golden Wastes: high cliffs of rock and shaped stone, surrounding waves of golden sand, surrounding a large lake at the heart of the basin. On the edges of the canyon, we could make out three groups of black towers: one to the south jutting out of the canyon wall, one to the southwest on top of a tall bluff of sandstone, and one less than a mile away, due west of Promise.

It was a nice drive, except for the radiation slowly eating away at our barriers, so we didn't stop to look around. Passed some native wildlife on the way; Vetra called them karkyns. Look like giant, bright green ticks or mites. Calling them ugly wouldn't do them justice.

When we got to the monolith, someone from our side had already set up kinetic barriers around the monolith, so we could work without worrying about the radiation. There were crates and boxes scattered all over the place, and someone, presumably the same person who had set up the barrier generators, had built a scaffold to reach the top of one of the pillars around the monolith.

We found another body, just inside the barriers on the north side of the monolith, near the road. Avante, Tegan C., human female: a scientist with Site 2, dead from radiation poisoning exposure. Probably came up to the monolith to study it, or maybe she went there to take shelter after the kett attack drove the colonists out of Site 2.

Tegan managed to make it to the monolith, but it was already too late. Her body absorbed somewhere between 10-20 GY of radiation. I'm looking at the statistics now. Symptoms would have shown almost immediately, within hours: nausea, vomiting, severe diarrhea, high fever. Eventually she would have gone into shock, but before that she would have been in indescribable pain. Her body just shut down, collapsing face-first into a drift of sand, and ultimately would have disappeared from existence beneath the shifting particles if we hadn't come along.

If we aren't careful, that could happen to us too.

Anyway, we did a full sweep of area around the monolith. More crates, more research equipment, and a beat up Kodiak shuttle. Vetra found a single set of tracks leading away from the shuttle that quickly disappeared over some rocky ground, and we didn't have time to investigate. I did a scan of the shuttle anyway, just in case, but scans showed the shuttle was definitely empty.

The monolith itself is a gigantic tower of some dark, gleaming, synthetic, metallic substance, all sharp angles and planes. There are four smaller pillars that form a sort of semi-circle in front of the monolith. Cup your hand, extend your fingers as if you were grasping a ball in your palm. Your thumb is the monolith, raising five times the height and girth of your other fingers which are the pillars. In the center of your palm is a raised dais, and center of the dais is a console. That's where we start.

The console reminds me of a rack for pool, a triangle, with a bunch of what look like smaller triangular blocks fitted tightly together inside the rack without any gaps or spaces. SAM tried accessing the console like he did with Dad on Habitat 7, but something was missing; like something in the monolith was turned off. Turns out we were half right. Scans showed the power conduits leading up to the tops of the pillars, where some nut, presumably the same nut who had come on the shuttle, had dragged a couple of mobile scanners to the top of two of the pillars, to study what I can only describe as a glyph, etched into the top plane of the pillar.

It looked simple, but scans proved that the glyph actually contained a proper function, literally giga-quads of data that SAM was able to access and somehow makes sense of, finally activating the monolith console in full. Why anyone would have a systems so convoluted for accessing the monolith's is beyond me.

That done, I simply hopped down. Forty feet straight down in fact. I love my jump jets.

I stretch my hand out over the console, and I can literally feel SAM taking over, reaching out through my implants and my omni-tool to access the console. Holographic lights pop into existence around my hand, dots and lines as connections are being made in the machinery. The blocks in the console shift, rising and falling in a fluid way that you wouldn't expect from something that looks like it came out of a kids toy-box. As SAM works, I can feel my neural implant working in sympathy, sending signals to configure my brain to help the process along. It didn't hurt, exactly. But it was more than a little unsettling while it was happening.

 _{I apologize for any discomfort you might have felt, Scott.}_

I know SAM. Don't worry about it.

Anyway, this went on for a few minutes. SAM says that the system is unstable and that we could speed up the process if we double our power input. At this point I'm thinking about the radiation, and night falling, and being stuck out on an alien world without back up and with hostile aliens in the area.

So I give SAM the go-ahead, reach out to make the connection with the console, but at that moment I hear some yell "Wait!" and suddenly I'm flat on my back, and there's this asari in a purple jacket smirking down at me from behind a black mask of face-paint that makes her look like something straight out of a French melodrama.

I guess this was the "crazy blue" that Clancy was talking about.

We eventually found out the asari's name was Peebee, or at least that's what she called herself. Our first meeting was… strange. SAM, what do you recall?

 _{Pulling up relevant data. Audio recording corresponding to arrival of asari: Peebee}_

…

 **Cora: "Back up! Literally."**

 **The asari carefully raises her empty hands above her head. Asari: "Whoa, easy. You've come this far. Just let it ride."**

 **Cora and Vetra lower their weapons.**

 **Asari turns back to address Scott. "I've been studying this tech for months. I don't know how you activated those glyphs, but you have to let them cycle through their channels-"**

 **Scott: "All right, time to get off." Scott shoves the asari off to one side and quickly sits up to get a better look at the asari.**

 **Asari: "Don't like being sat on, huh?" The asari flips head-over heels to get to her feet and extends a hand to help Scott to his feet.**

 **Scott rolls to his feet without assistance, before shaking the asari's extended hand in greeting.**

 **Asari: "I know, I know – who am I? I mean, it's obvious who you are. I saw the ship swoop in. You're a Pathfinder. Was beginning to think the Initiative just made you guys up so the rest of us wouldn't lose hope, but you're for real, huh?"**

 **Scott looks directly at the asari. Stress levels dropping, but leaving sense of [irritation? Frustration? Anger? Suppressing instinct, hostility- failure].**

 **Scott: "Maybe you want to knock me down a couple more times to make sure?"**

 **Asari: "No, that's okay. You're obviously corporeal – pretty solidly built, actually."**

 **Background: Sounds of monolith activating.**

 **Asari: "Well, look at that."**

 **SAM: "System has stabilized. I'm establishing a connection."**

 **Asari looks at Scott, smirks, and shrugs. Her eyes turn to look at a point behind Ryder. Body language indicates [Alarm. Surprise. Shifts immediately to resignation]**

 _ **! Scans detecting movement, multiple synthetics in immediate vicinity-!**_

 **Asari: "Oh, crap." Pulls out a pistol and shoots over Scott's shoulder at one of the approaching synthetics.**

 _{Battle commences.}_

…

 _{End of recording.}_

Jeezus, did I really say that?

 _{I believe you thought you were provoked.}_

Yeah, a Pathfinder gets knocked on his ass by a crazy asari and straddled like a gods-damned horse. Yeah, I was provoked. But still, that was… stupid.

 **{Scott sighs, gripping his hair with one hand and massaging his face with the other.}**

Damn, I shouldn't be doing this when I'm this tired. Let's just try and finish this, then I'm going to bed. What's the next bit, after the fight?

 _{Pulling up the relevant audio log.}_

…

 **Asari: "Not bad. My first tangle with the Remnant was a lot messier."**

 **Scott: "The Remnant?"**

 **Asari: "These monoliths, the Observer and Assembler bots - they're all the remnants of something much bigger. But that's too long. I hate long. So, "the Remnant." Like my names better as "Peebee".**

 **Scott: "Thanks for helping with those things. I'm Ryder."**

 **Asari: "You're a mystery. I've been studying those glyphs for months, then you arrive and – pffftt!" The asari, now designated Peebee, makes a quick sound, Scott identifies as like air being quickly let out of a balloon. "Solved."**

 **Scott: "I saw this tech clear the skies on Habitat 7. We're hoping it can do the same for Eos."**

 **Peebee: "Huh. Atmosphere manipulations? Maybe. Fits the model…" Peebee's eyes lose focus for a moment, as if looking at an inner picture, before snapping back to Scott. "All Remnant tech is connected. You interfaced with this monolith somehow – and now it's pinging the others. If you wake them up too, they must lead to whatever master switch might fix the radiation."**

 **Scott: "Interface with the monoliths, follow the connection to the source. Easy enough."**

 **Peebee: "Sure! Just don't piss off too many Observers. Here, take my navpoints. I'll be–" Peebee looks around, showing indecision for a moment before turning to the Remnant console, "-I've got to figure this interfacing out. Just be careful. This planet's all kinds of strange."**

 _{End of recording.}_

…

Yeah, that's pretty much it. Peebee sent me the coordinates for the other two monoliths and some of the other Remnant sites she'd found, then she was totally absorbed by the monolith and the console.

That blue really is crazy, not that our own is much better. Do you remember what Lexi asked us for when we got back from the monolith? A live kett; or a kett corpse if we can't manage a live one, so she can dissect them.

Is everyone I work with crazy? Kallo's an eager beaver with a photographic memory, Gil's a grease monkey with a vengeance, Suvi's a wide-eyed-dreamer, Liam's a wild-man, Cora's generally angry at everything but tries to keep it in, and Vetra's sharper than a dozen tacks and will probably kill me and herself if we fail, and Doctor T'Perro's from Omega, and wants me to capture live kett to dissect them.

God, I need to stop making these videos when I'm this tired. I'll finish this tomorrow.

 **SAM, end recording.**

…

SAM, can you tell me what Dad would have done in this situation?

 _{That is difficult to say, Scott. But there is something I know he wouldn't have done.}_

Yeah, and what's that?

 _{He wouldn't give up.}_

Yeah. I guess he wouldn't. Goodnight SAM.

 _{Goodnight Scott.}_


	8. Chapter 8

**Thoughts from Andromeda, Part 8**

By ElementalsAdvocate

…

 **Year 2819, Andromeda Galaxy, Heleus Cluster, Pytheus System, Planet: Eos (Habitat 1), Outpost 1: Promise, The Tempest, Pathfinder's Cabin**

…

 **SAM, start recording.**

Well, I was right. Nightmares. Lots of them. Every time I close my eyes, I can still see the kett burning. And other things as well. Not going to fucking talk about. Not here. Not now.

It's the middle of the night here on Eos. The sun won't be up for hours. I have all-, well, most of the lights off in the cabin, but I can still see everything outside through these ridiculous windows. The mountains, the rocks, the trees, the habitat blocks. Eos doesn't have a moon, but it's clear tonight, and I can see everything out there from starlight alone. There's a wind, not much but it's enough to stir the trees.

It's quiet. Too fucking quiet. And creepy as hell. We're sitting in the middle of a ghost town. I can't hear anything except my own voice. I'm just standing here in my briefs, holding a blanket over my shoulders. It's cool in here. I could up the temperature, but I'd rather not. I want to feel this; this cold. I want to feel it now, so when I feel it out there, I won't fall.

I can feel the ghosts out there, SAM. I can feel the fear, the anger, the hunger, the impotence, the despair. Every time I glance to one side, I think I see someone: the shape of an arm, a torso, a head, out of the corner of my eye. And they aren't just human faces either. They're turian, asari, salarian, krogan too. I see Zed Wilcox and Anna Farthingale. I can see Theo Harwell, who died here in Site 1, and Tegan Avante, who died at that first monolith. And there's more; so many more. I know, realistically, that there is nothing out there. The sensors would detect anything out there if it came close, right?

 _{Yes Scott. That is the case.}_

Right… But still. I just can't shake this feeling, this sense that there's something I haven't done, something I need to do, and that there are a lot of people out there who are looking to me, judging me, by everything I've done… and everything I haven't done. And yet I also feel like there's something singular about this, like there's something… or someone, behind me; someone watching me, judging me, dooming me to destruction.

 _{There's no one else in this room Scott.}_

I know that, SAM.

 _{… Is this what it means to feel "haunted"?}_

Yes SAM. I'm feeling haunted right now. I feel cold inside. Not cold as ice, not a physical sense of cold, but more like there's a wind blowing through me, cutting me inside the bone. I feel weighed down. I feel something like eyes on me. I feel like I'm alone, and that there's something out there that I can't see or hear, but I know it's there. I feel… alone. And small. I'm… alone.

{But you're not alone. I'm here.}

Yes SAM, you are. But it's not the same. It's just not the same.

For the first time in my life, I truly feel like I'm alone. Mom's dead. Dad's dead. And Sara… Sara might as well be dead. I'm the only Ryder left in this whole god-forsaken universe. And I don't know whether to laugh at the absurdity of it all, that I would end up being the last, or curl up into a ball and cry my eyes out.

Fuck it. I can't keep doing this to myself.

 **SAM, end recording.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Thoughts from Andromeda, Part 9**

By ElementalsAdvocate

…

 **Year 2819, Andromeda Galaxy, Heleus Cluster, Pytheus System, Planet: Eos (Habitat 1), Outpost 1: Promise, The Tempest, Pathfinder's Cabin**

…

 **SAM, start recording.**

Whew, what a day. What a fucking crazy… horrible… wonderful… terrifying… and beautiful day it's been.

Last night, I felt like I was going to get crushed. Today, it's something else entirely. And I don't know rightly how to say it. It's crazy; Abso-fucking-lutely crazy!

Lexi ordered me to go to bed, but I am way too keyed up to sleep right now. So, I'll journal.

I got up this morning with a plan: Activate the rest of the monoliths, and get the atmospheric processor running properly before dark. That gave me about twelve hours. It was doable.

Liam lost out again in a coin toss against Cora and Vetra over breakfast; Later, I heard him muttering something about getting together with Gil and finding a way to expand the Nomad's cargo capacity. Good luck to him, I say. It's cramped enough in there with only three people, one driver and two monitors directly behind the driver's seat. It gets even worse when Vetra and Cora try to make "small talk".

Vetra, Cora, and I headed out before the sun left the horizon, driving the Nomad along the now familiar route through Site 1, up the canyon wall, all the way to the first monolith we'd activated yesterday. Peebee's shuttle was gone, but we did find the spoor of a kett dropship and the tracks of a large party of foot soldiers. We left in a hurry, and headed off to the next monolith to the west.

The trip shouldn't have taken that long in terms of distance. But as it turned out, kett patrols apparently like to take shelter from the radiation, like any sensible creature that knew about the stuff, below the canyon walls, where they would be protected and could spot our dust cloud from miles away. According to scans, the kett used the route so often that it had formed a sort of road along the base of the bluff going from the first monolith near our busted outposts, all the way to the third monolith in the south. On our way to the second monolith, we ended up in three different fire-fights.

Interesting thing: the kett have some kind of ground vehicles, weird looking things. They've got the tires for all-terrain, but the chassis is built like that of an old double-decker bus, heavily armored sides with no windows or other openings that I could see, except for a windshield up on top for a driver, presumably. Didn't have time to go poking around inside, but

Anyway, by the time we pulled up to the second monolith, the Nomad's white hide was decorated with an interesting pattern of bullet-marks, and I was marking seven new scratches into the butt of my new sniper rifle.

Activating the monolith was pretty easy, now that we'd figured out a rough idea of what not to do. The Remnant bots turned up; More of the Observer and Assembler bots we'd gone up against at the first monolith. We took care of them, the monolith activated, and we hopped back in the Nomad and headed off to the next site.

The final monolith jutted out of the top of a plateau, a few miles south of the lake, and slightly north of a small mountain of smoothed and broken sandstone that guarded the south end of the Golden Wastes Basin.

Finding the monolith was easy. Getting to it was another matter. The plateau was sandstone, with sheer sides rising a hundred feet above the wastes at its lowest point. The only way to get to the monolith was through a kett outpost, built to bridge the gap between the top of the plateau and the hills to the south. Just before we got to the base, Peebee called us up. Apparently she'd avoided the kett patrol, and had been monitoring our progress since activating the second monolith. She wished us luck, but said she would be getting involved unless we actually managed to get through the kett base and activated the monolith. Least she's got her own priorities straight I guess.

The kett road terminated at the base. The base itself was protected by some kind of energy field, a combination of mass effect kinetic barrier technology with something I've never seen or heard of, some kind of coherent plasma that makes a kind of permeable yellow-orange energy field. I took a scan of everything I found. The egg-heads back on the Nexus are probably going to have a field day once they start analyzing the data.

Fighting our way through the base was tough, though not as tough as our first fire-fight back in Promise. A kett dropship just leaving the base as we arrived, heading north. According to SAM, there was some kind of kett stronghold in that direction, up on the north side of the bluff. Anyway, as soon as we crossed the threshold, an alarm went off, and the kett came running.

All together there were only about a dozen Chosen, half-a-dozen of the cloaking bone-tigers (SAM identifies them as Wraiths according to info from the kett mainframes we skimmed through) and only four of the heavy Anointed; and what's up with those names anyway?

The kett base had a built in set of emergency barriers that sprang up as soon as we crossed the base threshold. The only way to get to the monolith was to pass through the main building at the center of the compound, and the only way to get into the building was to bring down the barriers. We could have tried to hack through the kett mainframe to bring the barriers down, but that would have taken hours. Luckily for us, the barriers were all powered by portable generators (got lots of scans of those, eat your heart out Nexus), and all the generators were outside of the main building. I guess the kett brainiac's, or whatever passed for kett officers, expected for their entire base defense force to get wiped out.

It took a little while for us to find all the generators, even with SAM's help detecting the energy emissions. One of them was up on the roof of the building for crying out loud! I mean, these things are not small! I can understand being strapped for space what with base being stuck between a hill and a plateau, but even so. How would they even get it up there?

Anyway, once we shut down the last generator, we could finally get into the building and from there, the monolith. That was when we found out why there were so few kett around the base and why the place was locked down tighter than Arcturus Station in war-time. As soon as we stepped inside, we found kett bodies all over the place. Shot, stabbed, broken almost in half, some of them even looked like they had been hit by a truck, or an eezo generator overloaded.

We made it all the way to the center of the base when suddenly a door bursts open and the corpse of a wraith came flying through and lands almost in front of us. We hear a grunt, and then the biggest krogan I've ever seen strides through the door.

It was like looking at an ogre straight out of a fairy tale. Seven-feet tall at the top of the hump, four-feet wide at the shoulders, ochre-yellow and black armor, cybernetic right arm, bone fetishes and other little trophies incorporated into the armor, and the face! A wedge-shaped head, the forehead plate covered in short bony crests, brown scaly skin, horny nodules thrusting out from the chin, and small green-gold eyes, slitted like a crocodile. The krogan had a big-ass double-barreled black shot-gun swinging from one hip, with a vicious-looking bayonet slung underneath the barrel, almost an axe-blade, while on the other hip, swung some-kind of high-tech mace or hammer.

Soon as the krogan spots us he stomps over, walking right over the corpse of the Wraith he just threw through the door, and says… well. SAM?

 _{Pulling up the relevant audio-log now Scott.}_

…

 **Krogan: "Who are you?"**

 **Scott: "That was pretty cool!"**

 **Krogan looks over his shoulder at the wraith corpse he just stomped over. Krogan: "Huh. Well, yeah. Guess it was." Krogan turns back and grabs the front of Scott's armor pulling him close to look him in the eye. Krogan: "Still haven't told me who** _ **you**_ **are."**

 **Vetra: Oh, come on, Drack. Stop that."**

 **Krogan identified as Drack: "Vetra? What are you doing here?"**

 **Vetra: "I'm with the Pathfinder.** _ **That**_ **Pathfinder."**

 **Drack: "A friend of Vetra's a friend of mine." Drack releases his hold on Scott's armor.**

 **Scott: "My name's Scott Ryder."**

 **Drack: "I'm Drack. Clan Nakmor." Drack turns his back on the group and strides over to the wraith corpse. Pulling out a knife, he begins to dismember part of the wraiths upper jaw. "You'll forgive me if I didn't just trust a stranger from the Nexus. They haven't exactly treated us krogan well. What are you doing out here?"**

 **Scott: "Checking out these monoliths. The kett seem pretty interested in this one. Looks like you cleared it out for us though."**

 **Drack: "You sad I didn't leave any for you? Nexus knows shit about the kett. They think they're safe, but they're just waiting to die out there in space. I've been quads deep on a couple planets for a while now. Taking out kett bases. Fighting ground troops." Drack grunts and finally extracts a long tooth from the wraith. "I know what they can do."**

 **Scott: "It's not pretty."**

 **Vetra: "You know Drack, we could use someone with your… skills."**

 **Drack: "Tempting as that is Vetra, I'm a little old to be carrying humans through a fight." Drack examines the tooth for a moment before sticking it into a pocket. "Besides, the day I help the Nexus again is the day the clouds part and the kett keel over. No offense."**

 **Scott: "None taken."**

 **Drack: "Good, cause I'm getting bored and the kett are getting stronger. Seem particularly interested in this alien tech." Drack turns and starts to walk away.**

 **Scott: "Remnant?"**

 **Drack: "Yeah, that. I'm going to go find more to shoot. Try to keep your head out there." Drack leaves through one of the doors towards the northwest, presumably to hunt more kett.**

 **Scott: "He seems fun."**

 **End of audio-log.**

…

Well, for our first meeting with a krogan outside the Nexus, that went pretty well. I hope Drack's doing okay out there by himself. But, if he's managed to survive out there for this long, I probably have nothing to worry about.

Anyway, after Drack left we did a more thorough search of the base. Didn't find much; took a thorough scan of the wraith Drack dismembered, scans of some of the equipment that we hadn't found elsewhere, some crates of Remnant artifacts.

We… also found a body. Anton, Darin T. An engineer with the Nexus, dead only a couple of days. According to the logs we found, the kett performed a necropsy on the poor SOB while he was still alive.

Bastards.

Anyway, we finished up in the base, and went over to check out the last monolith. Had to play around with the controls in order to make some platforms rise and fall to access to glyphs, and what's up with that? Whomever created the Remnant had a weird sense of priorities.

 _{Not necessarily weird Scott; just different.}_

Yes, SAM. Jeez.

Anyway, we find the glyphs, get the scans, and finally activate the monolith. The monolith starts making ponderous sounds, lights up, and starts "talking" with the other monoliths. SAM observes the monoliths interaction, and next thing you know, we had our key-stone site. This… happens to be in the middle of the Golden Wastes… in the middle of the lake, as a matter of fact.

Within minutes, Peebee calls us up, excited as a kid on Christmas morning, and tells us to meet at the key-stone site.

We head back to the Nomad and hop inside. Cora takes the driver's seat while Vetra and I get something to eat. We swing down into the basin to call down a forward station south of the lake, then I took the wheel and we headed off to the site.

It's really unnerving to try and wrap your head around just how thoroughly the Remnant tech is inter-laced through the planet. On the surface, it looks just like the Arizona or New Mexico desert. But then, you get Remnant tech popping up out of the ground just by pushing a few buttons, and you start to grasp just how much you don't know about what's going on beneath your feet.

The keystone site looked like some kind of bomb-shelter or bunker; a squat, hexagonal structure about a hundred feet on a side, rising out of the middle of the lake with a surrounding of sand on all sides. More Remnant technology connected the bunker to the shoreline, hundreds of triangular blocks suddenly appearing out of nowhere, fitting together to form a bridge strong enough for the Nomad to drive on it, all the way to the bunker.

Peebee was already waiting for us at the entrance of the bunker, practically vibrating with anticipation to find out what was inside.

My God, what we found down there-

 _{Message from Doctor T'Perro, Pathfinder.}_

[Scott, if you don't go to bed this minute, I'm coming in and giving you a sedative. You. Need. To. Rest!]

Alright, Doc! Alright… Jeez!

We'll pick this up tomorrow SAM. **End recording.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Thoughts from Andromeda part 10**

By ElementalsAdvocate.

…

 **Year 2819, Andromeda Galaxy, Heleus Cluster, Pytheus System, Planet: Eos (Habitat 1), Outpost 1: Promise, The Tempest, Pathfinder's Cabin (Night Cycle)**

…

SAM?

 _{Yes Scott?}_

Is Lexi monitoring me right now?

 _{No, Scott. Doctor T'Perro is currently running an analysis on one of the Kett corpses she obtained after-}_

Whoa, hold it! You're saying she's doing an autopsy on my ship? Now?

 _{No Scott. Doctor T'Perro is simply going over the data she gathered after she converted one of the hab-blocks into a make-shift morgue and moving the kett bodies-}_

 **[Pathfinder, Doctor T'Perro here. I know you're awake. Do I need to-]**

For fuck's sake Doc, I've been asleep two hours! I haven't even gotten out of bed. Will you just let it rest? Speaking of which, what are you doing up in the middle of the night, huh? Doing autopsy reports on the kett _I_ killed?

 **[No Scott. I'm running an analysis of the bio-mechanical components I found in the kett corpses Mr. Kosta and I recovered, and preparing a report for the scientists on the Nexus. Fascinating things; the kett possess an incredible grasp of-]**

Okay Doc! I'll take your word for it. Look, I'm just going to video journal, alright? I'll get what's in my head out and go right back to bed, I swear.

 **[…One hour Mr. Ryder.]**

 _{Message ends}_

Whew! That was… a little insane, but when has the Heleus Cluster been sensible when we're around?

 _{The Andromeda Galaxy is still a part of this universe Scott, and the universe acts on a series of laws and hypothesis that humanity and the sentient species attempt to discern-}_

It was a rhetorical question SAM! Jeez… okay. **SAM, start recording.**

We finally made it. We'd activated all the monoliths, and that had opened up this bunker in the middle of the lake. Now, we just needed to find the atmosphere processor or whatever it was, access it, and turn off the radiation.

First room was a dud. Didn't lead anywhere, or at least that's what Peebee thought up until the hole opened up in the floor. Some kind of gravity well, basically slows you down as you fall. Kind of like this vertical swimming pool Sara and I went to when we were about 15. You got in at top with a snorkel and scuba tank, and just dropped for about a hundred feet straight down into crystal clear water and dimness punctuated by windows in the side of the shaft, slow and easy like falling asleep. It was pretty cool at the time. But the gravity well on Eos was even cooler, because when we reached the bottom, we stepped into an alien world.

It looked as if we had stepped inside of one of the monoliths up top: all angles and straight lines, huge spaces, the walls running in bands between grey-black paneling and bands of glowing circuitry in vibrant pale green. But, there were all these lights! It was a twilight world, dark but lit by a kind of dark, blue-green luminescence. And the lights! The lights! It was like… looking up from the bottom of a tropical aquarium past a school of colored fish, all orange and yellow and red, bright and hard like lightning, moving slow as lightning bugs, but in a coordinated stream like falling leaves. I don't know whether it was holographic, plasma based, or what… but it was amazing.

But the roller-coaster ride was only just beginning. As we moved through the halls, we found dozens of artifacts, scanning pieces of technology that would make the scientists back in the Milky Way fall over in fits, much less the folks on the Nexus. Busted holographic displays, showing sputtering streams of glyphs, each individual glyph containing hundreds of zeta-bytes of data, which according to Peebee, was more information than most species get by with, whatever that means. More streams of holographic plasma sparks, in all kinds of colors. And it just got stranger from there.

We came across another gravity well leading back to the surface, blocked off by hundreds of… "Blocks" for want of a better word, floating around in some kind of electrified matrix… You know what? I'm just going to stop trying to describe what I saw down there; because there is no way in hell I could do it justice.

Peebee found some kind of Remnant artifact she hadn't seen before in the same room as the well, and decided to go off on her own to cover more ground. I objected. I mean, surely she's seen at least a few horror films right? You never split the party. But she brushed me off and went on her merry way. She is a survivor if nothing else; Also crazier than a badger in a roller-derby.

Once we started activating some of the systems to try and find the atmosphere processor, some kind of conducting fluid started flowing through bunker. A strange metallic fluid, almost like omni-gel, but it conducted enough charge to short-circuit our personal shields in a matter of seconds with direct exposure; speaking from personal experience, it hurts like hell.

The deeper we went into the bunker, the stranger things got. We found a small lake of the metallic energy fluid. We found some kind of broken construction equipment, similar to some kind of enormous 3-D printer. And then there was the cavern so big we couldn't even see the far side, and so deep that we couldn't see the bottom, not to mention the dozen or so glowing pyramid shaped "things" spaced throughout the cavern, looking like they were pulled straight out of an early twenty-first century Sci-Fi movie. Weird. I've said that already, but it bears repeating. Weird. And absolutely amazing. Sara would have given her right arm to see it… I really hope she gets the chance.

Vetra and Cora kept pretty quiet through all of this exploration, alternating between keeping watch for trouble and being stupefied by our surroundings. Sometimes they would offer a comment or observation about some interesting or strange piece of Remnant technology. Vetra was edgy, commenting once that she felt that someone was watching us. Couldn't blame her though; what with all the crazy technology reacting to our presence.

We spotted Peebee a couple times after that, individually running from Remnant bots and calling out her findings and advice on the fly, before disappearing back into the depths of the bunker. We kept moving. Had some trouble with a busted console, but Peebee turned up and showed me how to spoof a Remnant signal to create a temporary patch and get the next door open. Then Peebee ran off again, yelling over her shoulder that I was a "pal". Also found some kind of Remnant gauntlet or hand-tool in a nearby case. I used it on a handy piece of wall, and it ejected some kind of super-cooled fluid that froze everything within

The next chamber had honest-to-god plants growing in it, and not just molds or vines or mushroom slike you might expect underground; I'm talking about a frickin' twenty-foot tall tropical frond with accompanying mushrooms, ferns, and roots on top of a pylon, sticking out of another lake of that weird fluid we saw before, with no access to water or sunlight, and yet absolutely there and absolutely alive and organic. It was absolutely surreal. If anyone else actually sees this and wants to check it out for themselves, I'm sure the Nexus has a download of our suit telemetries and scans by now. Maybe they can figure it out.

It took a while to get through that chamber; had to use our jump jets to hop from pylon to pylon over hundreds of feet of empty air, finding consoles to activate more pylons that would allow us to go the way we wanted to go. Tedious, and we ended up fighting more Remnant bots, but we did get to scan and collect a lot of Remnant technology by exploring. Even found what looked like a Remnant assault rifle, if they even have a designation like assault rifle, as well as some kind of gauntlet or hand tool. The technology is beyond me, but I'm sure the scientists on the Nexus will be able to crack it.

The closer we got to the heart of the vault; I felt a kind of resonance around me; through my bones.

Once, when I was a kid, I got to go on a school trip to see the inside of an ancient hydro-electric dam on the Columbia River. When the water was running and the generators were turning, the whole place hummed with energy, and I could feel the resonance up through the soles of my feet. The resonance I was feeling in the vault felt like that: gathering power, tapping into some great natural force.

When we finally got the heart of the vault, I nearly fell over.

It looked like some kind of advanced fusion core: a shaft of hyper-excited particles rushing from the ceiling into the floor, inside of a magnetic/gravity bottle. Up near the ceiling, plates of Remnant metals flexed around the energy shaft. I suppose they might act in the same way that control rods acted in the old fission-power reactors back on Earth. SAM? Any thoughts?

 _{A not unreasonable hypothesis, Scott. However, there is insufficient data to declare exactly what kind of device was discovered in the Eos Vault, as we were forced to leave before we could do a more in-depth analysis.}_

Oh yeah… that.

Well, I wanted to look around the vault before we started poking at the controls to start the atmosphere scrubbers. The place was massive; not a big as the pyramid chamber, but still. I remember Cora saying, "Everything's massive… and beautiful." It was too. Dimly lit, mostly with a kind of cool white-blue glow coming from the energy stream, but also verdant, like sunlight through spring maple leaves, coming from the far end of the chamber, out in the dark. Spooky, when it was so quiet. There was also a bunch of dead trees and branches scattered around. Couldn't even begin to guess what they were doing there.

I went over to the primary console to override the lockdown that kept us from accessing the atmosphere processor. Found another Remnant crystal… block… thing like Peebee found earlier, right next to the console. Anyway, I poked at the console, SAM did his thing, and suddenly the energy shaft goes nuts; turned red, fizzled, and then popped out of existence. Literally _popped_. Not like with bubbles, but more like one of those old light-fixtures; Light-bulbs, that it!

All the lights went out. Then all the circuitry; in the console, in the wall, started glowing with this deep scarlet color. SAM reported that the lockdown that had kept us from accessing the atmosphere processor had been lifted. And then Peebee called me over the comm, babbling about the lockdown, then her voice got worried, mentioning that power levels were rising way… _way_ above what we'd seen before. That's when I saw the wall at the far end of the chamber we were in slide apart, and out rushed this great roaring red and purple cloud. Suddenly it was like my vision maximized by a hundred, and I saw the leading edge of the cloud hit one of the dead trees, and reduced it to _dust_ in _seconds._

I didn't even think. I just shoved Cora and Vetra towards an open corridor _away_ from the cloud and ran like the hounds of hell were after us. SAM threw up a navpoint on my HUD back towards the surface and we followed it, racing past vents spilling out more of the cloud, frantically activating consoles to activate bridges, jump jetting up staircases and over canals in our way, always just meters ahead of the cloud of death.

At one point I mistook my step and fell into a stream of Remnant fluid. My shields howled and popped, and I immediately began to sink and spasm; but Cora and Vetra, not even breaking stride, grabbed me by a shoulder-a-piece and jump-jetted all of us up and away to the next level and kept us all running without even breaking stride.

We finally made it to a gravity well, and we took it, shooting upwards, all of us breathing hard and desperately wishing the thing would hurry up and get us up and away. We finally ejected out of the top of the well and into a chamber we'd been in before. Vetra and Cora booked it for the exit, while I took a few precious seconds to empty the contents of a small chamber that had been sealed by a barrier when we came through before.

… We were there for discovery and I was curious, alright! Besides, we found some good stuff.

We'd almost made it to the exit when we hit a brick wall, almost literally. A door that had opened for us when we came in the first time was clamped shut. For all the good it did us, it might as well have been a wall. And I felt despair then, because I thought "this is it. We're done."

Then I heard Peebee call out from behind us and I turned around to see Crazy Blue, running straight towards us, pole-vaulting over Remnant blast shields and firing behind her at an Observer flying doggedly in her wake. She finally plugged the thing and ran past me for the still sealed door, but I was focusing upon the console less than twenty feet away and the cloud of death rushing towards us. I remember thinking… I don't know what I thought. I just knew if I didn't do something we were dead. I ran for the console, slapped my hand on it, and begged for something, anything! The door to open, the cloud to disappear, for angels to come down and snatch us to safety! The leading edge of the cloud hit me, red and yellow sparks rushing past my face, and then-

 _{Vault restart is now complete.}_

Yes SAM. Heh, I think you just made a joke.

The cloud retreated back into the depths of the vault, I don't know how. I got a partial scan that says the cloud wasn't just chemical, but also had some mechanical functions like nano-bots in its make-up. I don't know. What I do know is that I'm alive to tell about it. We all were.

I got to say it: Nothing like outrunning death.

While we were catching our breath, SAM accessed the Remnant system and confirmed that the atmosphere processor was now up and running. He also recovered the last console activity, which turned out to be a map: A holographic, three-dimensional map of the Heleus Cluster, and everything in it; planets, stars, and a strange sort-of matrix connecting them all.

One planet SAM immediately pointed out to me. Eos was lit up bright yellow-orange against the cool-blue of its neighbors, with a read-out of its current status in Remnant script. Vetra wondered aloud what it was all about; the Remnant, the map, the planets. I was wondering the same thing. Then I thought back to everything we'd seen that day, and everything we'd seen before on Habitat 7. So I spoke out loud. SAM?

 _{Uploading the relevant audio log.}_

…

 **Peebee: "Is that the Heleus Cluster?" Refers to the holographic interface projected by the Remnant console.**

 **Scott: "Yeah. There we are. That's Eos." Scott points at a planet high-lighted by the map.**

 **Vetra: "Something happened. Because we restarted the system?"**

 **Scott: "If that light is us… then all these points could be vaults on other worlds. Dormant, like this one."**

 **Peebee: "Maybe, but why is there a whole network of them? What's all this for?"**

 **Scott: "This tech can create Observers from nowhere, or ravage a whole planet, and that's just what we've seen! The bots, those plants back there, the atmosphere processors…"**

 **Vetra: "I once did supply runs for a Council team that was seeding some ice planet's atmosphere, trying to melt the ice caps."**

 **Scott: "To help it support life."**

 **Cora: "That first processor we saw was making things worse, but maybe it malfunctioned."**

 **Scott: "Is that what these builders were trying to do? Make worlds habitable? Even terraform a whole cluster?"**

 **Peebee: "Hey, look there." Peebee examines a point on the map, glowing green as opposed to Eos (yellow) and the other points in the Heleus Remnant network (blue). "That's different. Maybe it's active? We've got to go see!"**

 **Scott: Walks over to examine the node with Peebee. "SAM?"**

 **SAM: "Extrapolating. These coordinates lie beyond what we have currently surveyed, Pathfinder."**

 **Scott: "Mark it on our charts. We need more to go on. Let's head up to the surface. I could use some fresh air."**

 **End of Audio Log.**

…

Do you know what this means SAM? I mean, can you extrapolate where this could possibly lead for the Initiative? SAM, if there are vaults on worlds across the cluster, capable of terraforming them for our benefit, and if we can access them… then we may not need to worry about cutting out a home for ourselves. We could just make one. One for each species, tailor-made for our individual wants and needs.

When we finally got out of the vault, and stepped out under a clear blue sky that had been yellow with sand and radiation that morning, it felt like we'd finally done it. I mean, it felt like the first time Sara and I climbed to the top of Mount Bachelor in North America, all by ourselves. We were seventeen at the time, and Mom was on a medical retreat with Dad at Alliance headquarters in Vancouver, so Sara and I finagled a shuttle ride with one of Dad's contacts and flew right to the foot of the mountain. It was the middle of summer; blistering hot. It took us six hours to get all the way to the top. The last five-hundred feet were the hardest, nine-thousand plus feet above sea level, up a sheer rock face, so high there were still patches of snow that hadn't melted from the winter. But you know, standing there at the summit, looking out over the landscape, trying to catch our breath, muscles burning from the strain, we agreed that it was absolutely worth it. And, stepping out and seeing that blue sky over Eos, made all that crazy shit we saw and nearly getting killed by ancient robots and a death cloud worth it. Well, almost. I think Vetra could have done without the death cloud, actually.

Whew, heady stuff. Man, I wish I had a drink right now; a real, honest-to-god shot of whiskey, or six.

So, what left? Oh yeah! Peebee's coming with us when we leave Eos to check out the next vault. She asked me just after we left the vault here on Eos.

Well, I say she asked me. More like she showed how good she was with all this Remnant tech and how good she is a surviving when all that tech tries to kill us. She didn't get in the way, and she held her own. I guess I can take the "Crazy" along with the "Blue". At least for now. She took off in her shuttle after I said yes, but I don't plan on leaving Eos for a few more days at least.

Okay, I better close this up before the Doc comes in and knocks me on my butt. We're planning on going to check out a spot for a new outpost tomorrow, and Liam's itching for some action after missing out on the Vault. A place called Fairwind Basin. Sounds like a nice place. Here's hoping. Here's hoping for a lot.

 **SAM, end recording.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Thoughts from Andromeda part 11**

By ElementalsAdvocate

…

 **Year 2819, Andromeda Galaxy, Heleus Cluster, Pytheus System, in orbit around Planet: Eos (Habitat 1), The Tempest, Pathfinder's Cabin (Night Cycle)**

…

 _ **{Scott comes through his cabin door, favoring his left leg slightly. He sits down at the desk chair, sighing as he puts his head in his hands and running his fingers through his hair in a manner indicating frustration and fatigue.}**_

SAM… begin recording.

Well, to recap, it's been a couple of days since we activated the Remnant planet scrubbers. Radiation levels across the planet are falling slowly but steadily. I'd like to wait a few more days before we try to set up another outpost, but Tann and Addison are… Oh, fuck it! What the hell am I going to do about Nilken Rensus?

Okay. Maybe if I back up a little and start from the beginning I might figure something out. Okay.

After we started the Remnant scrubbers, my team and I wanted to check out Fairwinds Basin as a viable site for a new outpost. Only Tann called me up and "suggested" that I take a look at Site 2 first to find out if we could salvage it instead of using up precious materials to build a new site elsewhere. So, Liam, Cora, and I loaded up into the Nomad and headed southwest from Promise.

According to Suvi, Site 2 was marketed as "The One We Get Right." Aaaand just like that my heart dropped down somewhere around my ankles. It was even named Resilience.

Funny thing is, the place looks like it was pulled straight from the western coast of old Mexico, or maybe the Caribbean; high rocky cliffs backed by sand, a large body of water in the northeastern end of the lake in the Golden Wastes, and the outpost sandwiched in between. It might have been an ideal place to start an outpost, if it weren't for the radiation… and the kett.

To make a long story short, Site 2 never had a chance to fail from the problems that broke Site 1. The kett began to assault the colony shortly after the basic set up was completed, attacking once, twice, even three times a day or more. Small patrols of kett killed or captured anyone who walked outside the protective eezo barriers around the colony, and even went so far as to raid inside the outpost defenses. All attempts at communication with the kett were met with stony silence and gun-fire. Two weeks after the attacks started, the mayor was killed by a kett sniper's bullet, and Site 2 Security Chief Martin Reynolds and his second in command Nilken Rensus took over. Reynolds was killed a week later during an abortive march on a kett outpost. Resilience was abandoned the next day; So much for "The One We Get Right."

When we got to the outpost, everything looked almost pristine, at least compared to Site 1. All the buildings were still standing upright, kinetic barriers were still humming away, all the equipment was still intact, hell, even the vehicles looked like they'd just come off the factory floor. If it weren't for the fact that nobody was there, you'd think nothing was wrong with the place. Right up until we found the bodies; three of them, two turians and an asari, left behind when the outpost was abandoned. Eh.

 _ **{Scott is silent for a short time, contemplating something, before continuing.}**_

We did a cursory walkthrough the outpost. Found some of the kett's mobile shield platforms set up inside the perimeter, probably set up during the final assault that drove the Initiative out of Site 2. Didn't find much of anything else; which is weird, because you'd expect someone who'd pick up the bodies of their own dead would pick up their equipment after a fight, wouldn't you?

Shit. Add it to the list of things we don't understand about the kett.

When we finally tried to access the main building, turns out someone had locked it from the outside, as if they were trying to keep something in. Soon as we went into the main building and turned off the lockdown, we found out what.

Soon as we broke the lockdown, we hear this roar come from inside the building, and then everything went to hell. Kett started coming in from every direction, Cora called Kallo for an extraction, Kallo was shouting back, and when we got outside, we saw what had been locked inside the hab-block.

Imagine a creature with the body-form and musculature of a silver-back gorilla, make it the size of a small adult elephant, and give it the carapace of a crab and teeth and tusks like a hippo. Then give it the temper of all those critters and a bull moose that had just had a live cattle-prod shoved up its ass on top of all that. Oh, and when it can't get at you physically, it vomits up globs of bile and spits it at you.

Yeah.

Turns out the mayor of Resilience had been working on a project to keep animals and the kett away from the colony using high-powered sound-waves. Special Project Sigma, according to records we found later. Only thing is, for testing the idiot somehow managed to lock a kett Fiend inside one of the habitation blocks connected to the main building.

We survived. Barely. If we hadn't had jump jets to get us up on top of the building away from the fiend in a hurry, that might be a different story. Between the three of us, we took down over twenty of the kett Chosen, five of the Anointed, four Wraiths, and the Fiend on top of all that. Luckily for us, the Fiend was starving after being locked up for over two months and had just come out of an enforced hibernation, and the kett arrived in individual shuttles one at a time so we took them out piece-meal.

Still, the three of us had to spend last night in the med-bay under Doctor T'Perro's tender care. A Wraith got past Cora and managed to get a good grip on my leg before I shoved the barrel of my sniper rifle down its throat and pulled the trigger. Cora took a full burst from a kett mini-gun at long range. If it hadn't been for her barriers, she might have been cut in half, though she did have a very interesting pattern of bruises to show when she took her armor off back here at the Tempest.

Liam got the worst of it. After the shooting stopped, he went to check the Fiend, got too close, and got grabbed and slammed against a wall before Cora and I finished it with a combination of shot-gun rounds and Incineration tech to the head. Liam's still down in the med-bay with a busted leg, three cracked ribs, and a broken collar-bone. He's pretty cool about it though, strangely enough. Wonder where he gets his attitude?

Anyway Cora, Vetra, and I went back to Site 2 today to check things out. The kett had been back and picked up their dead. We downloaded the contents of the outpost servers for the egg-heads back on the Nexus to examine. Also got a scan of the prototype Sigma device the mayor was working on.

From the security office, SAM pieced together a recording of an argument that occured between Reynolds and Rensus that pretty much corroborates that the two security officers were on the outs. Reynolds intended to stay and hold the outpost, while Rensus wanted everyone to evacuate back to the Nexus and forget about Eos.

We piled back into the Nomad and headed along the eastern edge of the Big Lake, heading towards the nav-point I got from the witness. When we finally got there, all we found was sand and the desiccated remains of one of Reynolds legs. Kaerkyns had scavenged the body, and so we spent the rest of the day combing the nearby desert for pieces of the Security Chief.

Six hours, two kett patrols, and a small Remnant site later we finally found the last piece, an arm, located in a cave several miles to the south-east of where Reynolds was killed. We also found his omni-tool, and SAM downloaded a recording of Reynolds last minutes. This is where things get really hinky. SAM?

 _{Accessing data. The Chief was scanning at time of death. The scan picked up two shots. One: a standard Initiative rifle report, which missed. The other from behind, a kett pulse weapon. Accessing relevant audio file. }_

…

 **Security Chief Martin Reynolds: "NO!"**

 **Security member Cassidy Shaw: "Where's Nilken?"**

 **Deputy Security Chief Nilken Rensus: "Sorry, old friend – had to do it. I'm not dying on this rock."**

 **Shots fired, Initiative weapons and kett pulse guns, un-intelligible shouting…**

 **{End of audio log}**

…

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck!

What the hell am I supposed to tell Tann? "Sorry director, we've got the wrong guy. Nilken didn't kill Chief Reynolds. He only intended to kill him. And missed."

Fuck…

Dammit Dad, why did you have to go and die? Why did you leave me to deal with this shit?

What would you do, Sara?

 _{Scott, if I may propose a course of action?}_

Go ahead, SAM.

 _{While I cannot say what Alec might have done in his capacity as Pathfinder in this situation, as a scientist, Alec often encountered moral conundrums in the course of his research. His primary course of action in such situations was to retrace his steps, reexamine the results available, and reach out to other sources for more information that might shed light upon his difficulties.}_

Gather more information, huh? Well, it's as good a choice as any, and I don't figure we're going to be leaving Eos any time soon. Okay.

SAM, access the Nexus and see what records they have on Nilken Rensus and Martin Reynolds. They were supposed to be friends. Maybe there's something in their past that might tell us why Rensus would consider murdering Reynolds beyond fear. Get the records of Nilken's wife too. Hell, may as well get the records of everyone who was at Site 2 while we're at it. I'm going to get some more coffee from the galley. This is going to be a long night.

Oh! **SAM, end recording.  
**


	12. Chapter 12

**Thoughts from Andromeda part 12**

By ElementalsAdvocate

…

 **Year 2819, Andromeda Galaxy, Heleus Cluster, Pytheus System, Planet: Eos (Habitat 1), Site 3, Outpost Prodromos, The Tempest, Pathfinder's Cabin (Night Cycle)**

…

 **SAM, start recording.**

Well… we did it. Outpost number 3: Prodromos. It wasn't easy, but we did it. Well, I didn't do it –the colonists did. But I – We! I mean – Oh fuck it. I'm no good at this self-congratulatory bull-shit.

We did it. Fairwinds Basin. Outpost number 3, Prodromos, is taking shape around me. And frankly, I'm worried. Dead worried.

Fairwinds Basin is a beautiful spot; protected on all sides by high sandstone cliffs, a small lake right in the middle of the basin, and two broad tracts of sand out of the basin for ground access to rest of the Eos without needing a shuttle. Not to mention the enormous natural sandstone arch to the northwest of the basin that you can see from anywhere in Fairwinds or the Golden Wastes.

Man… if we didn't have to worry about the kett, I'd have hooked up line for a swing on that thing and gone absolutely Tarzan. Then Sara would probably have kicked my ass for defacing a natural landmark. That, or she would have demanded her turn next.

God! Sara… It's been over a week since we got to Andromeda; over a week since Sara –! Mmmph!

 _ **{Scott grits his teeth and grips his hair with both hands in an apparent fit}.**_ _{Scott!}_

It's just… you don't know what it's like SAM! You don't know what it's like to have someone next to you your whole life and then, gone. Worse is the not knowing! She's not dead, she's not alive, she's not even asleep! She's in a god's damn coma for fucks sake!

 _{Scott, your stress levels are approaching critical. If you do not calm down, I will be forced to call in Doctor T'Perro.}_

Seriously SAM!?

 _{Yes, Scott.}_

Fuck!

 _ **{Scott sits cross-legged on the floor, and spends the next several minutes performing a deep breathing exercise.}**_

 _{Your cortisol levels are dropping, pulse rate and breathing have steadied. How are you feeling Scott?}_

Are you going to do this every time I freak out?

 _{My purpose is to enhance your abilities in the course of your work as Pathfinder, and monitor your physical and mental well-being. However, as you are Alec's son, it is also my duty to ensure that you do not harm yourself. Sara is not dead. I am monitoring her progress even as we speak. Look.}_

 _ **{A health monitor is brought up on the screen of the Pathfinder's console, showing Sara Ryder's bio-chart, as well as video link-up to the Hyperion's med-bay, showing Sara Ryder, lying on a bio-bed, sleeping peacefully.}**_

Is this a live feed, SAM?

 _{Yes, Scott. Sara is resting comfortably in the Hyperion medical bay. Dr. Carlyle is on hand to provide assistance at any time, and his staff is some of the best in the Initiative. Sara is fine Scott.}_

Okay… okay… whew. That was nuts. Thanks, SAM.

{You are welcome, Scott.}

It's just… I had to make a really crazy decision about what specialty the colony should follow before the shuttles would launch from the Nexus, and while I was trying to decide, I tried to think Dad might want… what Sara might want. I had to choose between specializing in science and exploration or go with additional military personnel and equipment. Liam was all for science and exploration, as was Vetra. Drack just growled something about the kett and needing the extra guns.

Okay Scott, back up, start from the beginning.

After we'd finished with Site 2, and Liam had recovered from his injuries, we drove out to Fairwinds Basin to check it out. Soon as we popped over the crest of the ridge above the basin, we see a dust-cloud being kicked up and dozens of kett running all over the place. Liam activates the Nomad' scope to get a closer look, and we see that crazy ass Krogan mercenary Nakmor Drack, surrounded by kett corpses and pinned down behind some rocks, while three of those Anointed pounded away at his cover with their mini-guns.

Its times like these that I really wish that the Nomad was equipped with a cannon; so I had to make do. Mainly by charging the Nomad into the largest group of kett still out in the open and mowing them down under the Nomad's wheels. I know it worked, because I had to clean the gore out of the wheel-hubs afterwards. Add it to my rapidly growing list of nightmares.

Our arrival caused quite a distraction for the kett, and while the bony bastards alternated between shooting at us and dodging out of the way, Drack made his move. He rushed out of cover, roaring, firing that monster black shotgun with one hand and swinging an enormous hammer with the other. Tore those Anointed bastards apart.

I jammed the Nomad up against some high rocks to guard our flanks and we piled out; Vetra, Liam, and me. Vetra laid down covering fire with her Cyclone, I popped off Incineration techs, biotic Throws and rounds from my rifle, and Liam focused on taking out anyone who managed to get close. We could hear Drack over our own shots, alternatively roaring and laughing as he raged across the sands like some kind of primordial god of war.

The shooting finally stopped, I went over to find Drack propped up against a rock, sucking air like a bellows, covered in blood and pieces of kett. I don't know who much of the blood was kett and how much was his, but the way that crazy reptile was grinning, either he wasn't feeling any pain or he was higher than on kite on adrenaline or whatever passes for it in krogan.

Anyway, we talked. Apparently my little contribution to the fight had impressed him. Vetra came over and laid on the charm, and within five minutes Drack and I shook hands. Now he's working for us- well, actually he's working for me. Drack still doesn't trust the Initiative leadership, but he's willing to give me a chance so long as I keep finding good fights. Crazy old reptile; I must be out of my fracking' mind.

Long story short, I called down a forward station into the Basin, and officially contacted the Nexus to deploy resources for an outpost on my position. Since the Nexus had used up its available resources on Site 1 and 2, the Hyperion would be providing the resources and personnel for this colony. However, there was one little wrinkle.

See, when the Initiative had originally designed its colonization protocols, they were operating on the expectation that the colonists would not be dealing with hostile alien forces, or at least having the arks on hand for back-up. So the most basic outposts were designed around two broad categories: research and defense. The research outposts would focus on learning as much as possible about the new world and discovering how best to utilize the resources available. Defense outposts would focus on militia training, as well as identifying potential threats to the Initiative and coordinating with the Nexus to deal with them. This two-form deployment was intended to provide for the most basic needs during the initial colonization of a planet.

However, due to the fact that between the Nexus and Hyperion, they only had enough resources to put together one outpost, either research or defense, and I was the guy on the ground, protocol dictated that I had to make the decision.

Of course, no one bothered to inform me about any of this protocol mumbo-jumbo before I walked face-first into this situation. It certainly didn't help when you said that bit about the first choice of a colony defining how people would see me as pathfinder. Eh, SAM?

 _{You chose to focus your time and attention upon our immediate situation Pathfinder. I did not think it wise or efficient for you to be distracted when you were already doing everything in your power to deal with the situation. That being said, Alec would not have wanted you to be unaware of the impact your actions would have upon the future of the Initiative.}_

Sure, that's a big help SAM. Not!

{… … …}

Ok, that was rude. Sorry SAM. I'm just… damn it. I'm tired of being constantly on the back-foot with all this Pathfinder stuff. I figured that all I had to do was go out and not get killed, leave the thinking up to you and the egg-heads back on the Nexus. But somehow, I ended up calling the shots?

I don't want to be in charge SAM. I just want my family to be safe. If that means I need to call the shots on the ground… so be it.

I decided to go with a scientific outpost. My gut told me to go with that, and most of the crew agreed with me, though Drack and Cora gave me some hard looks when they found out. Twenty-four hours later, Initiative shuttles swept into Fairwinds Basin, carrying everything we needed to set up an outpost: pre-fabricated habitation blocks, generators and kinetic barrier pylons, tanks of water, wind turbines, a seed vault, a top-of-the-line sensor array, and three Halcyon-class Semi-Mobile Missile Turrets. That made me feel a bit better about my choice; at least the outpost wouldn't be without some real fire-power in a pinch.

You know SAM; it's amazing what people can accomplish when they put their minds to it. In less than three hours, 120-plus colonists transformed Fairwinds Basin from a sandy, rocky dustbowl into a sandy rocky outpost; complete with all the amenities… or at least the necessities. I think they're still having some trouble with one of the toilets exploding periodically.

The team and I spent most of our time during the initial set up watching the skies for any kett dropships, but for some reason none showed up. I guess their losses between my team and against Drack the One-Krogan-Army had finally taken their toll. That or they're dealing with something more important… SAM, could you-?

{The Nexus is on alert, Pathfinder. There is no cause for alarm.}

Okay, that's a… well, it's not a relief, but it's something. Anyway, once the kinetic barrier pylons were powered up and the turrets moved into position I decided to move things off the ridge and down into the Basin to see what we could do to help things along. I was headed through the middle of the colony past the lake when I ran into Colonial Director Addison, talking with the new Mayor of Site 3, a retired Alliance man called August Bradley. He's a big guy, almost as big as Dad. Seems to know what he's about, and looks like he should know his way around trouble. Without the radiation to worry about, he should be able to make Site 3- sorry, Prodromos viable.

After making my introductions with Bradley, Addison pulled me aside to offer her congratulations, and a caution, and I… went a little crazy. SAM, bring it up.

{Recovering the relevant audio log…}

…

 **Director Addison: "They're eager. I haven't seen eager for months." Addison gestures for Scott walk with her. Scott accepts, and they proceed south-east through the colony.**

 **Director Addison: "Eos is far from golden. But now it's a producer. A real and reasonable first step. They think you did the impossible. The Nexus – I warned them. Helping was… irresponsible. You proved me wrong, Pathfinder." Addison extends a hand to Scott. Scott refuses, crossing his arms and leaning back on one leg.**

 **Scott: "What are you playing at? Seems like being my friend is suddenly valuable."**

 **Director Addison: "Fair assumption." Addison lowers her hand and walks away. Scott follows.**

 **Addison and Ryder walk up to the rim of the basin, overlooking the colony.**

 **Director Addison: "The reality, Ryder: You bought us time. But one outpost on a longshot planet won't stop us from starving. You already have a lead on… something else?"**

 **Scott: "The navpoint from the "vault"."**

 **Director Addison: "** _ **Now**_ **it gets complicated. The others are ready to officially sanction your efforts; to be a part of your success. We all want the Initiative to succeed. But after failing for so long, no one agrees on how to do it. Be aware. That's all."**

 **Scott: "We didn't come to a new galaxy to argue about who's right.**

 **Director Addison: "It got us this far. Talk to Bradley. Later, we'll go over the extended job of Pathfinder. Until then. Tann's waiting on the Nexus.**

 **Scott: "Addison! If that's all you came to say, then there's one last thing we need to get straight between us."**

 **Scott: "The last time we spoke, you referred to my father in a tone of voice that could be called "offensive". I just want you to know that if you ever speak about my father, in that tone of voice, in my hearing, again… I will break your jaw. Stop!" Scott jerks one hand up to halt Addison's response. "I'm not finished."**

" **My father was a lot of things, and did a lot more. He pushed boundaries and crossed lines, maybe even ones that shouldn't have been pushed. But whatever he was, whatever he did, he did it himself. He didn't push anyone into anything. He led them there, from the front, taking the brunt of whatever lay before him."**

" **I heard people on the Nexus talking about my father, saying he was nothing but a fool who led us all to our deaths, or that they were fools for believing in him. Let me be clear: the only person who is allowed to talk smack about my father is me!"**

" **Furthermore, I don't think it's acceptable for anyone, much less an Initiative leader, to try and lay blame on the dead. It's. Too. Fucking. Easy! Especially when they aren't here to defend themselves. We don't have the time, or the resources, or the energy, to waste on trying to flank each other with gossip and aspersions about our dead relatives and friends. Not when the whole damn cluster is already whistling to the grim reapers tune already.**

" **So, if you've got a problem with me, you take it me. And if you had a problem with my father, you bury whatever you've got to say right here on this ridge, cause I won't stand for it. My father gave up everything on Habitat 7 when he saved my sorry ass and made me Pathfinder. I didn't ask him to do it, and he didn't give me a choice, and whatever his reasons were, we're both going to have to live with them and keep going regardless."**

" **That's all I've got to say. Enjoy the rest of your day, Director." Scott turns and runs off the top of the ridge, jump-jetting safely down to the floor of the Basin, leaving Director Addison to walk back to the colony by the way she came.**

 **End of audio-log.**

…

 _ **Scott's expression could be described by another person as blank. Slowly and carefully he pushes his chair away from the desk and rests his forehead on the edge. As he speaks, he raises and lowers his head, gently but firmly striking the edge of the desk with each word.**_

…Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Shit. Shit. Shit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit! Ugh…

 _ **Scott groans, but doesn't strike his head again.**_

SAM, why didn't you stop me? I wanted to tell that bitch what I thought but I didn't mean to go fucking Shakespearian on her! I just… needed her to understand, and the only other way I could think of was holding her over the edge of the cliff.

 _{Speaking as Alec's creation, I cannot find you at fault for voicing your objections to Director Addison's comments. As for your method, I think throwing her over the cliff, while effective in halting any chance of further comments about your father, doing so would be unlikely to result in any positive outcomes in your relationship with the Initiative leadership.}_

… Thanks SAM. I guess… Damn, I need to get some sleep. Drack headed off to who knows where after the colony defenses were set up, and if he calls in for help, I need to be ready. And Bradley said they were bringing in the stuff to set up the long-range communications and radio telescope tomorrow, and they're going to need every biotic on deck in case of accidents.

 **SAM, end recording**. And SAM?

 _{Yes Scott?}_

The next time I start talking like a god-damned preacher to one of the Initiative Director… give me shock in the ass or something. Next thing you know people are going to start recording everything I say.

 _{But, I_ am _recording everything you say.}_

Yes, but you're different. You're… family, now. And you don't show or talk about what I say or do to just anyone. Or at least, I sure hope you don't show it to just anyone.

 _{No Pathfinder. While part of my function is to inform the Initiative of your progress, I am not a "blabbermouth", as your father would put it.}_

Well, that's a relief. Goodnight SAM.

 _{Goodnight Pathfinder. And thank you. Logging you out.}_


	13. Chapter 13

**Thoughts from Andromeda part 13**

By ElementalsAdvocate

…

 **Year 2819, Andromeda Galaxy, Heleus Cluster, Pytheus System, Habitat 1 (Eos), Site 3, Prodromos Outpost, The Tempest, Pathfinder's Cabin, Early Evening (Local Time), 4 days after Site 3 completion**

…

 _ **Scott enters the cabin, limping heavily on his right leg. He walks over to windows, tossing a soft bundle onto the bed, looking out towards a small group of colonists gathering outside the main office of the outpost.**_

SAM?

 _{Yes Scott.}_

 **Start recording.**

…

I just want to get a few things straight, so long as it's fresh in my memory. People are probably going to say whatever they like, or whatever they think. I just want to be clear, to myself, about what happened out there today.

Things were going pretty well. The kett tried attacking the colony a few times, but between Drack and the rest of the team we drove them off quickly enough. I was feeling pretty good about things.

I was in the quarantine office, dropping off some Remnant artifacts for screening and cataloging before being sent back to the Nexus for analysis when I found it; a message and a warning from someone named Kasperek about his team leader, Jennings, messing around with the Remnant, doing experiments. The Remnant reacted badly, and one of the other members of Kaspereks work team got badly hurt. Kasperek left the message in the quarantine office, begging anyone to find them and stop the leader Jennings from getting anyone else hurt. I think it was when Kasperek quoted Jennings saying how they could "live like kings with an army of Remnant bots working and fighting for us" that I really started to get worried. When people start saying shit like that, it means somethings going to hit the fan.

I visited the Engineering office to look at the duty roster, and the medical bay for recent injuries. Didn't take long to get the details: Axel Jennings, ex-Alliance Marine, engineer, and leader of a work detail, assigned to set up weather-monitoring equipment around the colony and out in the desert, with his second, Jack Bharti, also ex-Alliance, Sael Varax, technician, and Jamie Kasperek, meteorologist. In the outpost medical station, I found that it was Bharti, Jennings second in command, who had been injured by the attacking Remnant bots, up at the Second Monolith, directly east of Prodromos.

With the radiation still clogging the upper atmosphere it was impossible to contact a group out I contacted my team, told them what was going on. Vetra was in the middle of sorting out a logistical Gordian's Knots between certain Nexus suppliers and the Prodromos project heads. Peebee and Drack were both out in the desert doing their own thing, so Liam, Cora, and I loaded up in the Nomad and drove, hell-for-leather, to the monolith to find and stop Jennings.

We didn't find Jennings or any of his team at Monolith 2. But we did find Remnant; over a dozen assorted Observers and Assemblers that opened fire on us as soon as we got close. When the firing was over, we searched the area, and found an Initiative communications array someone had dropped. Turns out that _someone_ , had been Jennings and his team, only that morning, poking around the monolith before being driven off by the Remnant.

Soon as SAM patched into the array, we picked up the signal for Jennings team, arguing about the wisdom of poking around with the Remnant. Jennings was talking a sly cuss, waxing on the benefits of having obedient Remnant bots, apparently having worked out some method or process to bring them under control. Son-of-a-bitch was going to get himself killed.

Over the comms we heard Jennings mention the Four Giants. I knew it; a rock formation of four giant standing stones at the south end of the Golden Wastes. We piled back into the Nomad and drove, kicking up a cloud of sand behind us.

The Remnant tech at work beneath the sands had been busy. We'd seen plenty of new outcroppings and pillars shooting out of the desert before then. The Four Giants came into view, and as we got near, we spotted a new pillar like those around the monoliths, peeking out from behind the smallest stone. Soon as we rocketed from behind the Giants we saw it: a new Remnant pillar, thrusting out of the sands on top of a dais, and below it, bobbing black Observers, shooting their winking red lasers… Oh fuck it!

I was pissed. God –damned pissed! Everything had been going so god-damned well and for someone to go and try and poke the Remnant now just- I was so fucking pissed by the time I saw the Observers I just floored the accelerator and threw the Nomad into the middle of it. When I couldn't go any further, I stopped the Nomad, hopped out, and started shooting at whatever was in front of me like a damn green-horn out of Basic! If Cora hadn't been watching my back… Damn it!

 _ **Scott stomps across the cabin to the bed, massaging his leg as he sits down.**_

When the lasers stopped going off, I figured that was the end of it, and relaxed. I saw this man in an Initiative jumpsuit stick his head out from behind a piece of the Remnant architecture, looking around. Soon as he saw me, he came out, waving one arm to greet me. I can still see his teeth, flashing white in that brown face. Then something slammed into my back and knocked me head over-heels into a trough in the sand.

It was you who got me back on my feet wasn't it SAM. You did that thing you do when I get scared and confused out there, pulled me back, woke me up, got me moving, even though my leg was nearly snapped in half. What was that thing that shot me again?

 _{Translating the Remnant codes. Closest approximate translation is "Nullifier".}_

Heh. Damn faint praise for a two-legged walking artillery piece with shields that would put a line cruisers to shame. When I got up for air, the damn thing was tottering forward like a Loki mech and laying down the kind of fire you only see in old war vids of Bush-class railgun-tanks.

It was Cora who pulled us out of that mess. She took Liam's grenade belt, primed all the grenades in one go, Charged in, behind the Nullifier and shoved the belt into its armored but unshielded backside before running like hell for cover. Boom.

When the noise stopped, the Nullifier was on its front, the legs torn off and the head ripped nearly in half by the grenades. Liam told us later that he'd traded with some of the Prodromos chemists for some Hi-Ex to give his grenades a little more punch.

Damn-it! I am surrounded by nut-jobs and whack-bags… and I'm the worst.

Without any more Remnant shooting at us we regrouped at the Nomad. That was where I met Mr. Jennings in person. He's a big man, with a round, full face, clean-shaven but for stubble on his head and jaw. It's military, through and through. He's kitted out in the standard Initiative form-fitting light armor/environment suit: keeps you safe and comfortable in anything below extreme temperatures or hard-vacuum, built in kinetic barriers and ablative plates. I can see the butt of a collapsed assault rifle over his right shoulder, ready and waiting to be pulled out and used at a moment's notice.

Fuck. I saw him as an enemy! I expected a fight -Why?

Because he'd done something reprehensible. Because everything I'd heard about him and from him up to that point, and all my instincts, told me that this was not someone to be trusted.

SAM?

 _{Retrieving relevant log}_

…

 **Jennings: "Great timing! Thanks for the assist."**

 **Scott: "Your experiment with the Remnant didn't work out, Mr. Jenning?"**

 **Jennings: "Huh. Okay, who squealed – Kasperek? Yeah, I bet. Kasperek! Where are you?"**

 **Cora: "Pathfinder. Over here."**

 **Kasperek is lying at the base of the Remnant pillar. It is clear from the angle of his head in relation to his body that his neck is broken. Cora checks for vitals.**

 **Cora: "He's dead."**

 **Jennings: "Shit."**

 **Turian and human in Initiative gear approach. Turian, female, identified as Sael Varax, Initiative technician, assigned to Axel Jennings work party. Human, male, identified as Jack Bharti, colony security, assigned to Axel Jennings work party.**

 **Varax: "Spirits…"**

 **Cora: "Liam, get a body-bag out of the Nomad. We'll take him back to Prodromos with us."**

 **Liam: "Right."**

 **Jennings: "You sure you want to bother with this? We could-"**

 **Liam: "I've got this!"**

 **Jennings: "Fine. Varax, check the generator. Bharti, stand by. We'll give it another go so long as the Pathfinders here- "**

 **Scott: "No, Mr. Jennings, you won't give it another go. In fact, you're going to clean this place up and come back to Prodromos with us right now. SAM, contact Bradley and tell him we're coming in with the weather team… and casualties. "**

 **Jennings: "Hey - These Remnant could plow our fields, protect us from the kett. You control them—why shouldn't we?"**

 _ **{Ryder's blood pressure spikes.}**_

 **Scott: "Control? Is that what you call it? Buster, I don't** _ **control**_ **anything! I can influence, cajole, sometimes even interface and change things, but control!? No! What I have is a super-intelligent AI that can interface and analyze Remnant systems, and enough experience with the Remnant to be careful! That damned walker thing just now? I've never seen something like that before today! Beneath our feet are miles and miles of chambers and tunnels and machines like you wouldn't believe. In a week, those machines have turned this place from a radioactive wasteland into a viable world. And we still nearly got killed a dozen times over by Remnant bots and a death-cloud that popped up as soon as we turned the damn air scrubbers on! The closest thing I've got to an expert on the Remnant is an asari whose probably a little touched in the head from surviving out here on her own for the last six months, but even she's got enough sense to duck and run before things go boom! This stuff can and will kill us if we don't treat it with the respect its due. And you come out here and try to rewire it like it was a god-damned Loki mech with a busted circuit board! What the fuck were you thinking?"**

 **Jennings: "You little shit!"**

 **Varax: "Jennings, this isn't working. We tried-"**

 **Jennings: Fine! But you can't protect us all the time, Pathfinder. Out here, we need every edge we can get."**

 **Scott: "That's fine. Now, how'd you get here? You didn't walk out here, this far from Prodromos."**

 **Varax: "We've got a truck on the other side of the dunes, Pathfinder."**

 **Scott: "Good. Harper, you and Costa go with Varax and Bharti in the truck; I'll take Kasperek and Mr. Jennings in the Nomad."**

 **Cora: "Pathfinder, I don't think-"**

 **Scott: "Do it, Harper."**

 **{End of log}**

…

We didn't say anything on the trip back, though I told SAM to show Mr. Jennings some of what we'd seen in the Remnant vault.

When we got back to Prodromos, Bradley was waiting for us with some of his people. When we got out, and passed Mr. Kasperek over to them… we didn't say much. I told Bradley what happened in as few words as possible. Bradley told Jennings to go to his office. When Cora showed up with the truck and the remaining two from the work team, we all trooped inside the main office, and Bradley made me tell it over again. I then made a heartfelt plea to everyone there to NOT fool around with the Remnant technology or the bots again, at least until we've got a real grasp on how it works, and why it's there in the first place. Bradley promised to deal with Jennings and the rest of the team, but that they'd lay Kasperek to rest in Prodromos.

SAM… can you access Kasperek's file?

 _{Yes, Pathfinder.}_

Tell me.

 _{James Kasperek, 20 years of age. Born in 2165 on Bekenstein after the second wave of colonization in 2163 that brought much of the wealth to the planet. Attained a Bachelors degree in Meteorology at Bekenstein University in 2184, but dropped out of the Masters due to increasing debts. Joined the Initiative in 2185 as a member of the science corps on the Hyperion. No parents or siblings at time of leaving the Milky Way Galaxy.}_

600 years just to die. 20 years old and he dies on the first planet he sets foot on because his gods-damned leader didn't have the sense to leave well enough alone. No family, probably no friends either. If I hadn't found that message, the whole team might have been killed, and no-one would remember him.

There but for the grace of god go I. There… but for the grace of God… go I.

 _ **Scott is silent for several minutes, looking at his clasped hands.**_

After that, we headed back to the Tempest to get cleaned up and patched.

I had a cracked tibia that Lexi set back at the Tempest. Cora has some bruises from the grenades throwing her into the sand, and Liam had come through the fight pretty well unscathed.

A few hours later Bradley called me. He told me that they'd arranged a service for Kasperek, and that they wanted me to attend. I didn't want to, but I went. Seemed the right thing to do. Cora, Liam, and Vetra came too.

It looked like almost everyone in the colony showed up to send Jamie Kasperek off. The engineers had whipped together a kind of casket for him, and laid the colony flag over the top. They'd designed it back in the Milky Way. Blue and white, with the word Prodromos sketched across the top in Ancient Greek, an ancient round shield, crossed by a javelin and an olive branch in gold and green. Prodromos, in the Ancient Greek, means "forerunner". A word of hope for the colony, and maybe for the future of the Initiative, I hope. I hope.

I didn't see Jennings there, but I did see the other two, Sael and Bharti, sticking pretty close to each other.

Bradley and various other people came forward and said a few words. I honestly don't remember much about it, and no, SAM, that is not an invitation to reminisce.

After that, it turned into a sort of Irish wake. Turns out, a couple of the more enterprising chemists had already knocked together a rough distillery, and Vetra brought a bottle of something dextro for the turians. Some songs, some dancing. I tried some of the scientists brew. Nearly took the back of my mouth clean off. Actually, it was pretty good.

I tried to get out as soon as I could, but Bradley caught just as I was slipping out the door, and gave me this; the colony flag, to put up on the Nexus, next time we're there. Kasperek's flag. A promise to him. A promise not to fail. Not to let Prodromos fail, not to let the Initiative fail.

I can still see the party going out there. But I'm not going back. I'm too mad, too angry and too sad to enjoy it. Maybe later. Maybe never.

Damn, I should have brought some of that witches-brew with me, just to get good and drunk. But Dad wouldn't approve, and Mom… would be disappointed. Sara though, Sara would be in the middle of it. Maybe. Who knows what she'd be doing at a time like this, after everything we've been through…

SAM, access my personal files.

 _{Accessing}_

Find and open "Granddad's Music List". Look up a song by an artist named Johnny Cash, late 20th century. Song title: Hurt. Play it. Oh, and **end recording.**

 _ **Scott lies back on the bed as the song plays.**_

" **Hurt": Played by Johnny Cash, originally by Nine-Inch Nails**

I hurt myself today  
To see if I still feel  
I focus on the pain  
The only thing that's real  
The needle tears a hole  
The old familiar sting  
Try to kill it all away  
But I remember everything

What have I become  
My sweetest friend  
Everyone I know goes away  
In the end  
And you could have it all  
My empire of dirt  
I will let you down  
I will make you hurt

I wear this crown of thorns  
Upon my liar's chair  
Full of broken thoughts  
I cannot repair  
Beneath the stains of time  
The feelings disappear  
You are someone else  
I am still right here

What have I become  
My sweetest friend  
Everyone I know goes away  
In the end  
And you could have it all  
My empire of dirt  
I will let you down  
I will make you hurt

If I could start again  
A million miles away  
I would keep myself  
I would find a way

][][][][

*Authors Note:

Starting a poll: In the next few weeks, Thoughts From Andromeda will be heading to Aya, and after that, to Voeld or Havaarl. In truth, I can't decide which to go to first, so I'll put it to you. After Aya and meeting the Angara, which planet should the Tempest and Scott go to first? The frozen war-zone of Voeld, or the stagnating jungle-cities of Havaarl. Please PM me with your choice, and your reasons for doing so.

[ Hurt, by Johnny Cash, lyrics are copyrighted to Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.]


	14. Chapter 14

**Thoughts from Andromeda part 14**

By ElementalsAdvocate

…

 **Year 2819, Andromeda Galaxy, Heleus Cluster, Pytheus System, on route to the Nexus, The Tempest, Pathfinder's Cabin**

…

SAM, **start recording.**

Well, that's that. Good-bye Eos, good-bye Prodromos, and good luck to everyone there. Now I need to think about what comes next. Back to the Nexus for supplies, and then onto who knows where.

Yesterday they got the last of the main buildings set up around the colony; the water-extraction plant and the radio-telescope array. Our scanners picked up an underground river close to the surface of the basin. Took every mining drone the colony had working three days straight to tap into it, but now the outpost has access to enough clean water that they actually used a water hose to clear out the detritus from Kasperek's wake, just for the hell of it. Stupid, but its kind of indicative of how everyone's feeling right now, what with being able to stand on solid ground again after six-hundred years without having the world instantly attempt to kill them with radiation, storms, or any of the other hundred or so nasty ways to die just from living in a new place. And that's without the kett.

Damn it, Scott, stay positive. Don't let the tired get to you just yet.

Yeah, hard to be positive after that fucking "crew meeting". Fuck!

 _ **Scott slams a fist against the table, a brief biotic corona haloing his hand. After several deep breaths, he takes his hand away, revealing the imprint of his fist warped into the metal by its contact with Scott's biotic field.**_

Fuck… Didn't mean to do that. Dammit. Shit, I'm getting as bad as Cora. Shit.

Okay Scott, quit it with the swear-words and just get on with it. Start at the top.

We'd left Prodromos a few hours before. Peebee came flying back to Prodromos as soon as Kallo sent word we were leaving. She didn't seem to mind much that she had to leave her shuttle behind, but Bradley promised to make good use of it and let her have it back if and when we come back to Eos. Liam and Vetra had to go out and pick Drack up out of the middle of the desert with the Nomad. Big guy may be dangerous over short distances, but he's wasted on cross-country.

Anyway, once we were all back on the Tempest and headed towards the Nexus, I figured we might as well have a quick meet-and-greet with all the crew present. A round of introductions, shake hands, go over what we were going to do, lay down some ground rules, very informal.

First thing; Kallo, Suvi, Gil, and Doctor T'Perro were all busy with their own projects, so they declined to go to the meeting. Kallo and Gil I can understand; Kallo's got to fly the ship and Gil needs to make certain things are bolted down properly, but the other two? The science officer and the ships doctor, not come to a general crew meeting, especially one with a Remnant expert, and two new crew-members. Why?

Second, was how everyone came aft. When I arrived at 1300 hours, it was rather odd tableau. Cora was standing by the QEC display in the center of the meeting room, ramrod straight and her eyes locked with Drack. The big krogan was slouched on top of a bench, massive arms stretched out over the back such that he seemed to take up the entire bench. He also had a bottle hanging in one three-fingered hand, and as I came in, he took a long pull on it, eyes never leaving Cora. He didn't have his shotgun, but I noticed several smaller weapons hanging from Drack's armor: a knife attached to his boot, a pistol locked to his leg… and several grenades dangling across his torso. Yeah. That was real comforting.

Peebee was off by herself on the other side of the QEC display, alternating between gazing restlessly around the room and looking out through the large transparent viewports to the stars rushing by.

Liam and Vetra came in together, chatting amiably, but as soon as they saw the rest of us… Liam was his usual ebullient self, but for some reason Vetra clammed up.

I wanted to start the meeting, but just as I opened my mouth to start speaking, Cora spoke up, hard and bold, declaring crew assignments for Drack and Peebee.

Drack stated that he had already set up in the galley, and that he was fine thanks. Peebee on the other hand declared that she would be more comfortable in one of the escape pods, and had already taken up residence in one of our only two pods located on the bridge.

As if that wasn't awkward enough, Cora dropped the buck right in my lap, asking if I had any thoughts. It pissed me off; that Drack and Peebee had apparently decided carte blanche where they were going to stay on my ship and that Cora was trying to drop this in my lap after jumping over me to make her announcement.

But I shoved my anger back inside and simply said that, while I would have appreciated being asked first, I was willing to let things stand, before I tried to get the meeting back on track.

I started by listing some of our successes on Eos; the Remnant vault, Prodromos, beating the kett and the radiation. But Liam and Vetra kept making side-ways comments about how "not dying" was a success in and of itself. Drack put his two-sense in, and Cora practically leapt down Drack's throat. And it only got worse from there. When I tried to steer the conversation back to looking ahead to what we were going to do next, Peebee started hooting about going to the next vault, "when were we going to get there," and generally acting like an impatient and hyper-active teenager, and frankly a little ditzy. Liam and Vetra jumped in, Vetra wanting to slow down and think about things, Liam citing "Initiative priorities", and how the team as a whole needed to make a decision, at which point Cora steps up and states to Liams face that "it's the Pathfinder who calls the shots". She seemed like she wanted to say more, but caught herself, glancing over at me with this guilty expression on her face before she backed off with a quick "just so we're clear," and then the room went dead silent, everyone looking right at me.

It was Vetra who finally broke the silence. "So what do you need from us, Ryder?"

Frankly, at that moment I just wanted them all to shut up and leave me alone so I could think. I mean, I went to enough meetings during my days at Relay 202, but I had never been called upon to speak, much less take charge or give orders. But, blowing up at everyone wouldn't help me, and running away wasn't an option.

So, I took a deep breath, and when I opened my mouth, I stuck to the basics. SAM?

 _{Accessing the relevant audio log}_

…

 **Ryder: "Okay, what I need is for everyone to try and get along. This is not a military ship, so we don't have military code or law to fall back on. But, we need to be able to live and work together, so lets get a few guidelines down. One: nobody messes with the engines; that's Gil's job. Two: nobody messes with navigation; that's Kallo's job. Three: if anyone's sick or injured, they will go see Doctor T'Perro. No exceptions, even me. Other than that, so long as the ships still flying at the end of the day and nobody's dead, dying, or maimed… I'm cool.**

 **Liam: "You got it boss."**

 **Drack: "If krogan are known for one thing, it's getting along."**

 **Cora: "But not humility… or self-awareness-"**

Stop! SAM, stop.

…

Shit. _**Scott sighs and runs his hands through his hair.**_

The meeting kind of broke up from there. Everyone just walked off to do their own things, arguing and jesting, leaving me, flabbergasted and alone on the aft deck.

Fuck, I thought I'd made a better impression than that. What the hell am I going to do with them?

 _{From your father's memories, as a young soldier, Alec often faced difficulties when dealing with older and more experienced soldiers under his command.}_

Yeah, and what did he do?

 _{Alec's methods lay in leading by example. He would lead from the front, placing himself in harms way before allowing his subordinates to be harmed. He would accept the mistakes he made and learn from them to do better in the future. He also went out of his way to learn everything he could about the people under his command.}_

Well, there is something to that, at least. Speaking of Dad's memories, can't you just show me some here and now?

 _{No Pathfinder. Such memories are complex, and it is too risky to attempt an interface, even across a QEC interface. You will need to return to SAM Node on the Hyperion to access the memories you unlocked while on Eos.}_

Okay SAM, have it your way. Well, I'd better turn in.

Oh, before I forget—Vetra, you still up?

 **[I'm here Pathfinder. What can I do for you?]**

When we get back to the Nexus, could you find my foot-locker on the Hyperion and move it to the Tempest? With everything going on, I forgot to have it sent over before we left.

 **[Sure thing, Pathfinder. It'll be in your cabin before we leave the Nexus.]**

Thanks a bunch, Vetra. Say, Vetra? You got a minute to talk?

 **[Sure thing. Why don't you come on down to my office and we'll kibitz over some Blast'O's.]**

I'd love to. See you in a minute.

Well, might as well put your advice to practice SAM. Wish me luck.

 _{Good luck Pathfinder. Logging you out.}_

 **End recording.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Thoughts from Andromeda part 15**

By ElementalsAdvocate

…

 **Year 2819, Andromeda Galaxy, Heleus Cluster, Pytheus System, on route to the Nexus, The Tempest, Pathfinder's Cabin**

…

 _ **Scott is sleeping in his cabin. However, his stress levels have been rising steadily for the last hour, and his brainwave patterns are showing a marked increase in theta waves, indicating that he is most likely having a nightmare.**_

 _ **Scott suddenly gasps and bolts upright in the bed, eyes flying open and one arm extending as if reaching for something or someone.**_

DAD! NO!

 _{Scott.}_

Huunh! Hah! Ha… Oh God. That was… not fun. Totally not fun.

 _{You were dreaming about Alec.}_

Yeah, how did you guess?

 _{You shouted for him just as you woke up.}_

Hunh. Ha. Haaah.

 _ **Scott takes several deep breaths.**_

I was back on Habitat 7, just after the tower exploded. Dad put the helmet over my head, but it was like he put it over my whole body. I kept pounding and pounding on the inside of the visor, trying to get to him but it wouldn't budge. I watched him as he coughed his life away; saw the flesh strip from his bones by the Remnant death cloud.

 _{Alec died from asphyxiation, Scott. His body was recovered, and was not damaged further. You were dreaming.}_

Oh yeah? Well… gah!

 _ **Scott growls and rolls out of bed, picking up a bottle of water on the bed-stand, drinking half of it and dumping the rest over his head.**_

Really need to add a sink or something in here during the next redesign. All this space is nice, but using it for something like a proper wash room would be even better. Least I wouldn't run the risk of walking in on the ladies unannounced. God, that was awkward.

 _{On that note, Cora has forwarded a washing schedule in order to avoid any further… accidents.}_

Thanks, SAM. God, I knew Vetra had a pretty hard knock life, but I had no idea that she had that many scars. Not that she's got anything on Drack. Yeesh!

 _{Nakmor Drack is over 1400 years old, Scott, and has spent most of that time serving as a mercenary to one group or another. Such people do obtain many injuries, as I understand.}_

Heh, guess I've got something to look forward to then. Jesus Christ, I'm insane.

 _{… Have you always been prone to profanity in private, Scott?}_

No, just since you showed up.

 _{…}_

Ugh, that was invidious of me. Look SAM, I'm really not in a good mood right now. Can we talk about something else?

 _{A report has just come in from the APEX retrieval team assigned to recover the bodies you found on Eos. It's waiting for you at terminal.}_

Let me see.

Theo J. Harwell, Site 1, Promise.

Tegan C. Avante, Monolith 1.

Amira S. Pavlov, Monolith 2.

Darin T. Anton, Kett Base, Monolith 3.

Godanus Trenitus, Thysa Ylar, Porter M. West, Site 2, Resilience.

Bodies to be returned to the Nexus for storage until such time as family or friends determine what to do with them. Otherwise, will proceed to science department for analysis and/or disposal.

Analysis and disposal? What!? I got to see about this when we get to the Nexus. This talks like they're going to cut them up and use them for experiments. For fucks sake-Gah!

 _{Scott, I believe it would be wise to contact Doctor T'Perro. Your agitation is clearly related to some form of Post-Traumatic-}_

It's just so fucking mechanical! They're dead, now their bodies are going to get used up by the Initiative with no thought to who they were or what they went through. It's just… so… ugh.

 _{Do you have a course of action in mind, Scott?}_

I don't know. It just shouldn't end like this, you know. Dammit. Dammit.

Call the Doc, SAM. I'm getting the feeling I've got a date with a sleep aid tonight; that is if I ever want to go to sleep again.

 _{Doctor T'Perro has been notified Scott._ _ **Logging you out.}**_

… Authors Note…

Well. I did it. Fifteen Chapters. They aren't nearly as elegant or on time as I'd hoped but I got them out nevertheless. And I have no intention of stopping now. Look out for more chapters in the weeks to come. Next stop, the Nexus and then, Aya. After that, well, that's up to you. Let me know in the comments where you think Scott ought to go after Aya: the frozen war-zone of Voeld, or the jungles or Havaarl. As always, read, review, and enjoy!


	16. Chapter 16

**Thoughts from Andromeda part 16**

By ElementalsAdvocate

…

 **Year 2819, Andromeda Galaxy, Heleus Cluster, The Nexus, Ark Hyperion, SAM Node**

…

 _ **Scott enters SAM Node, stepping carefully and deliberately, breath rasping in his throat, chest heaving, blood-pressure far above normal but slowly and steadily dropping.**_

SAM, you got all that?

 _{Yes, Pathfinder.}_

Play it. Now!

 _{Accessing relevant log.}_

…

 **Scott: "Dale Atkins, right? We need to talk."**

 **Nexus Security Officer Dale Atkins: "Look, not to be rude, but I have work to do."**

 **Scott: "Oh, is that what you call setting up booby traps for unsuspecting technicians and setting them against each other?"**

 **Atkins: "What? I don't know what you're talking about. Who are you?"**

 **Scott: "Ryder, Scott, Pathfinder, and I've got proof that says that you've been a very bad boy. Now, do you want to talk this out here with me, or answer to Kandros and Kesh down in Ops?"**

 **Atkins: "Figures. Screw this. Screw all of you hypocrites on this station!"**

 **Atkins punches at Scott, but Scott ducks away, seizing the arm and throwing Atkins over his shoulder to the ground before twisting the arm into a lock.**

 **Scott: "Don't move buster! Unless you want to lose that arm."**

 **Atkins: "You weren't here when they kicked out our loved ones! Mutiny? We just wanted answers! My sister is out there! I don't even know if she's alive or—ah!"**

 **Scott twisted Atkins arm. Scott: "I said don't move! Now, I'm sorry for what happened, but setting explosives isn't the answer. Whatever happened back then, hurting people now makes no sense."**

 **Atkins: "What do you know? You weren't here! The leadership kept acting like everything was fine, and when the people demanded answers, they got the krogan! What the hell was I supposed to do? My sister could be dead for all I know, and the Initiative has done no-!"**

Stop!

{…}

 _ **Scott stands, trembling, heart pounding. Slowly, he closes his eyes and brings his hands together in front of him, approximately a foot apart. His biotics flare, and a micro-singularity appears between his open hands. At first the singularity is fitful, popping in and out of existence. Slowly, it becomes more and more stable as Scott's heart-rate and stress levels drop. When Scott's heart beat returns to normal levels, he allows the singularity to dissipate.**_

Okay. I think I'm good now. Fuck. I don't think I've been that angry in a long time.

{I have noticed that your bouts of temper seem to be occurring more frequently. Perhaps the time has come to-}

No! Fuck no! Even if there were some kind of professional shrink on this bucket… if anyone found out about it, they'd go to the Director's, and the Director's would talk and debate and argue and… gah!

Deep breaths, Scott: just like Mom taught you. Deep… Breaths…

 _ **Scott sighs and lies down on the floor, closing his eyes and breathing.**_

SAM. **Start recording.**

I screwed up today. I blew up today. Nearly killed a guy. A guy who should have been on my side. A guy who was probably just as torn up inside as I am right now. I beat him because I wanted someone to hurt more than I was, and he was just… there.

Dale Atkins. A Nexus security guard, who saw the first days of the Nexus Station in Andromeda. The failures, the setbacks, the deaths. He saw the mutiny, the krogan beat down, the exile of the mutineers from the station, including his sister.

Why the hell did he stay? Trapped in a tin-box as food runs out, water is rationed, the air slowly and slowly grows stale and dead, and steadily, the lights go out, a metal monolith dying by inches. Why the hell didn't he go with her if he cared so damn much? Nothing was stopping him.

Instead, he stayed as a guard, and on the sly, set up small explosives and accidents. His way of getting back at the Initiative for what they did to his sister. To him.

Fuck. How can something like this happen? How can anyone have their soul so twisted that they would do shit like that? Not just hurting others, but setting things up to hurt, without direction, without intent, just to make others hurt.

Like he hurts.

Fuck.

I tracked him down after I rescued a technician from getting hit by one of Atkin's sabotaged panels, guy named Raj Patil. I followed the trail, with SAM providing analysis, from the various sabotaged panels that Raj had found, to security footage, that led me to another technician as the apparent culprit, Zarah Kellus. Only she had been investigating the same sabotage, and her evidence pointed back at Raj.

It was SAM who twigged on to the fact that someone had apparently realized that both Zarah and Raj had been onto them, and set the evidence up to point the finger at each other. Going back over the security footage, we found the biometric readings of the person responsible for the sabotage, which eventually led us to Dale Atkins, poking around inside a panel on the Hyperion, not fifty feet away from the medical bay where Sara is still in a coma. I confronted him, and what he said… I lost it. I totally lost it. It wasn't just what he said, but that he also set out to frame Raj and Zarah. They never did anything to that bastard-they were victims simply trying to make the accidents stop, and the miserable son-of-a-bitch set them up.

So I yelled at him, hauled the asshole to his feet, slugged him in the jaw, and when he got back up, broke his arm. Also said some things that Mom would not have approved of.

Anyway, by then Hyperion security had showed up. I dropped Atkins in their laps, told them to take the asshole back to the Nexus and drop him in a cell, and that I'd be down there shortly to explain things. Man, Kandros is going to kill me for this.

 _{Incoming message from Director Kandros, Pathfinder.}_

 **[Pathfinder. Care to explain why one of my guards is in my cells with a broken arm? And what's this about sabotage?]**

I'll be right there Kandros. I swear, I'll explain everything.

 **[You'd better.]**

 _{Message ends.}_

Okay. Better contact Raj Patil and Zarah Kellus, tell them to get down to Security; may as well give Kandros the whole thing while he's got me. **End recording.**

Oh, before I forget; one of the egg-heads down in the Science Office asked me to give you some equations to check. Something to do with astrometrics and the Scourge.

 _{I'm ready.}_

Transferring them now. Have fun.

 _{SAM. ERROR-ERROR-ERROR-SCRACT_dhierklnyniobauybdfaf584a6846348d56f1a3854fe4a84a1vr653a767e6a_ukbiod-}_

What the-? SAM? SAM?

 _{Error in –system detected. Please stand by-}_

SAM!?

…

 **Authors Note:** Just wanted to give you guys something to show I'm not gone. Short chapter, but vital in its own way. Thank you **lyricsaboutcats** for your reviews. It's a shot in the arm every time: painful to wait for, but you feel so much better when you get it.


	17. Chapter 17

**Thoughts from Andromeda part 17**

By ElementalsAdvocate

…

 **Year 2819, Andromeda Galaxy, Heleus Cluster, The Nexus, Habitat Ring, Docking Pad 16, The Tempest, Pathfinder's Cabin**

…

SAM. Lock the doors. Opaque the windows. Dim all lights in this cabin. Hold all incoming messages and calls and alerts unless they are on emergency channels or it's from Doctor Carlyle.

That done? Okay. **SAM, start recording.**

What does it say about me, that I feel more comfortable here on the Tempest than on the Nexus or the Hyperion?

Probably means that I'm still human. The place where I sleep most often is the most comfortable place to me, the most familiar: My cave, my refuge, my sanctuary away from the rest of the universe trying to get me.

Damn. I spent the better part of the last two weeks going into dangerous situations, but less than a day after getting back to the Nexus, I already feel more tired than I ever did on Eos.

Let me back up and start from the beginning. We'd just entered the final approach to the Nexus when Tann called me up and told me to meet with him in his office. Cora was going to stay close to the Tempest and help Vetra unload our (small) cargo from Prodromos and see to getting the ship resupplied. Liam had volunteered to help Gil with some modifications, while Drack and Peebee both said they had stuff to do and people to see on the Nexus, so I headed off alone. I ran into some people outside the docks who recognized me and asked about the conditions on Eos. Then I got stopped by a team of scientists bubbling about all the stuff they were learning from my scans and data, asking my help with half a dozen projects at once.

When I finally got to Tann's office just off the main hall and Nexus Operations, I discovered that the froggy son-of-a-bitch had actually set himself up in what was supposed to be Pathfinder HQ. When I was there before, the space had appeared much smaller because most of it had been blocked off by crates and storage containers. Now, with the station waking up from its period of starvation, all that had been moved out and now opened up into a large, multi-leveled, high-ceilinged apartment. Display cases lined the walls filled with odds-and-ends from the Milky Way, lit screens and information displays all over the walls, some holographic projectors, a few tables, a settee, couch, and coffee table set off to one side. Nice, if it weren't for the SOB lording it over everything.

I found Tann ensconced on the highest level of the apartment behind a large grey desk, arguing with Nakmor Kesh via vid-call. Soon as he sees me, Tann ends the call and starts applying what would probably pass for salarian charm, if he had any.

If Tann weren't my boss by default, I'd probably kick his ass on principle. As it stand's I'm going to need to devise a prank worthy of the slimy SOB. I'm thinking fire-crackers in his toilet… after he's just had a dump and gotten up of course. Don't want to hurt him. Just ruin his day. Yeah. Firecrackers or something like it, and find a way to get a recording so I can show Kesh and Drack afterward.

Long story very short, he congratulated me for my work on Eos, did something with his omni-tool that plastered pictures of Prodromos and the area around it across every screen in the room like that was supposed to impress me somehow. Bastard.

About that time Kandros and Kesh walked in, apparently to prevent Tann from monopolizing me. Kandros was more than a little miffed that I had decided to go with a scientific outpost rather than a more military standing, though that was probably because he was concerned about his ability to provide adequate security for the Initiative rather than anything personal. Kesh on the other hand was glad to have increased production from Prodromos to extract dearly needed water, metals, and crops from the terra of Eos.

After that we got down to the meat of the issue; my next move, which boiled down to: "I'm going to the coordinates of that different vault we got from the Eos Vault, end of discussion." Wasn't like we had any other choice, but the three of them had to dicker about things before I told them bluntly that it was the only thing we could do to move forward under the circumstances. Tann ostensibly gave me permission to proceed, though it's not like I needed his permission in the first place. Fucking politico. Fucking bureaucrat.

Our meeting broke up shortly afterward. I just wanted to go see Sara back on the Hyperion, but just outside Pathfinder HQ I rescued a technician from being hit by an exploding panel. Poor guy ended up with first degree burns on his arms, though his suit protected him from the worst of it. His name was Raj Patil, and apparently, this wasn't the first instance of random destruction, or sabotage as he identified it. Lots of bad blood after the mutiny, and apparently, Hyperions arrival and our success on Eos hadn't cleared the air.

Well, the problem needed seeing to, and our erstwhile saboteur found and stopped, so naturally being the idiot I am, I volunteered on the spot. Raj looked so relieved to have some help, it was terrifying.

Long story short, I hunted down the saboteur, and discovered the bastard in question was none other than one of Kandros's security guards, guy by the name of Dale Atkins. Apparently he was still discontented about the mutiny's outcome, and taking out his frustrations by sabotaging the equipment around the Nexus to break or fail. Not much. Little stuff really. Guy probably could have been alright if he'd just had some good counseling.

Too bad I caught the bastard trying to set up his next little accident on the Hyperion, not fifty feet from the med-bay where Sara was being taken care of.

In my defense, I tried to be patient. But when the piece of shit took a swing at me, and then started spouting off about how unfair everything was and how his sister was exiled along with the rest of the mutineers and how the krogan were so harsh in putting down the mutiny and again about his sister being out in the Cluster, alone, fate unknown… SAM, play it. All of it.

{…}

 **Atkins: "What do you know? You weren't here! The leadership kept acting like everything was fine, and when the people demanded answers, they got the krogan! What the hell was I supposed to do? My sister could be dead for all I know, and the Initiative has done nothing. It isn't fair! It isn't right! Ah!"**

 **Scott: "You fucking coward! I risk my life every day, going up against everything this galaxy has to throw at me, from radiation to the kett, and you have the gall to say it isn't fair, while you're safe and sound here on the Nexus? I'll tell you what isn't fair! My sister, in a gods-damn coma, not fifty yards from where we are now! My father dead saving my sorry ass! Me, as Pathfinder! That's not fair! Oh, and so is this!**

 _ **Scott breaks Atkins's arm. Doing so allows Atkins to squirm out of Scott's grasp. Atkins attempts to escape, but Scott grabs Atkins by the collar and holds him down as he punches the man in the face, breaking his nose and knocking out several teeth.**_

 **At this moment, Doctor Carlyle exits the medical bay and observes what is happening.**

 **Doctor Carlyle: "Scott, what-! Stop this. Stop! Security!"**

 **Doctor Carlyle rushes over and pulls Scott off of Atkins. Doctor Carlyle: "Scott, what are you doing?"**

 **Scott: "I haven't even begun to give this fucking bomber half of what he deserves-Get off me Doc!"**

 **Doctor Carlyle and Scott struggle briefly before Scott finally breaks free, but ceases his attempts to attack Atkins. Hyperion Security arrives.**

 **Security Officer: "Doctor, what's going on? What happened?"**

 **Doctor Carlyle: "I don't-"**

 **Atkins: "That crazy nut attacked me! He should-"**

 **Scott: "Shut your fucking mouth!" Scott biotics flare.**

 **Doctor Carlyle: "Scott! Control yourself."**

 **Scott's biotics flicker and fade as he fights to control his emotions. Scott: "Security. This man is guilty of creating several accidents and failures aboard the Nexus, at least one of which has resulted in the injury of a technician. Furthermore, I caught him in the act of interfering with that panel over there, probably to set up another accident, less than fifty feet from the medical bay and the cryo bay. As the Hyperion's Pathfinder, I am handing this man into your custody. I suggest taking him by the shortest route possible to one of the cells in Nexus Ops. Now, if you'll excuse me? I think I need to calm down."**

 **Doctor Carlyle: "First he needs medical attention. Gentlemen, please, let's get him into the-"**

 **Scott: "NO!" Scott rounds on Doctor Carlyle. "No! No way in Hell is he-" Scott stabs a finger at Atkins "-going to receive medical attention in the same med-bay as my sister! You want to fix him, you do it on the Nexus, but he doesn't get one inch closer to my sister than he is right now!"**

 **Doctor Carlyle stares at Scott, saying nothing. After a few moments, Scott looks away.**

 **Scott: "Fuck it. Do whatever you want." Scott storms off.**

 **Doctor Carlyle waits until Scott is out of sight before addressing a nearby medical orderly. Carlyle: "Stevens, get a gurney and a medical kit. We'll treat him right here, and then escort him to Nexus Operations. And you-" Carlyle addresses Atkins, "try anything with me, and you'll wish I'd left you to the Pathfinder. Young and angry as he was, he'd probably just have beaten you to a pulp. Myself? I know how to make it** _ **hurt**_ **."**

 **{End of recording.}**

Jeesus. Came off like a damn kid again. Though… I didn't know about what the Doctor said after I left.

Shit. And it didn't end there. At SAM Node, I ended up introducing a Trojan Horse that nearly severed my link with SAM, and could have lobotomized him in the process. Sorry, by the way.

 _{There is no way you could have known that there was anything malicious in the equations Doctor Aridana sent to you for me to examine.}_

Maybe. But we need to figure out some kind of safeguard to make sure this doesn't happen again. Speaking of which, I… think I saw Dad in his N7 armor in SAM Node during the attack. He showed me how to save you. Was that… real?

 _{That was my doing. As I was unable to communicate with you on our audible channels due to the interference of the virus, I was forced to utilize other means to show you how to purge the virus. Alec's form was the one I was most familiar with; therefore I played his form across your vision to simulate the steps.}_

… Well, that it explains that. Don't do it again, understand? Seeing him again was… not good for me.

 _{As you wish, Pathfinder.}_

Anyway; after I got the virus purged, I was still mad enough to bite through iron and spit nails. The virus had come through a bunch of equations dealing with Scourge movement and occurrence in space, put together by Doctor Leynomi Aridana, the Astrophsyics lead for the Initiative Science and Technology Department, so that's where I headed as soon as SAM assured me he was alright.

I found Aridana in the new Tech labs on the Nexus just off the docking ring, cataloging and analyzing all the finds we brought from Eos. Soon as I confronted her, things went a little side-ways. Turns out she had no idea that her equations had been turned into a Trojan Horse to get in and lobotomize SAM. SAM declared that she was telling the truth, but it still happened, so how? One of the other scientists; a salarian, Doctor Herik, mentioned that someone had been putting up anti-AI graffiti on the walls and corners around the station.

So… someone's got a bone to pick with AI. But going after SAM with a virus that could have severed our connection is a big step from graffiti. And it's just weird, you know? The stations finally coming back to life and two weeks in, someone who has a beef with AI tries to drop a guillotine on us? Something just doesn't add up. Or maybe I'm just that tired. Ugh.

I wanted to get more out of the scientists, but Kandros called me again, wanting an explanation for why I wasn't in Ops explaining Atkins broken arm.

I left the Tech Labs with Herik yelling after me about some malfunctioning VI, and ran up to Ops, where I was in for an earful from Kandros. Give the plated hard-ass some credit, he let me tell my side of things before he let me have it, and did it in private.

Didn't tell him about what happened in SAM Node though. Not his business, least until I can find out more about this anti-AI crap, and make sure he isn't one of them. Fuck. I hate thinking like this. Hate thinking that everyone and anyone could be my enemy. It's like trying to walk down a street with all my nodes active and trying to suppress them at the same time. Like I've got the edge of a lightning storm cutting through me, setting my hairs on end and trying to ignore it or hide it. Stupid and dumb, born of fear and pride, and likely to fry my own brain before getting five steps forward and two steps back.

Shit…

After Kandros got through chewing me out over Atkins, I filled him in on what I'd found on Eos concerning our would-be-murderer Nilken Rensus.

Heh, pretty sure I gave him a headache on that alone.

Research I'd done said that Nilken and the late Chief Reynolds had both been former mercenaries, members of the Blue Suns, served together in the Attican Traverse. During a raid on a pirate base, they'd rescued Mariette, and she and Nilken hooked up and went independent. That's when the Initiative found them and got them signed up on the Nexus ride. Since they were both from the Terminus, they weren't good enough to go on the Turian Ark, with all the good Hierarchy citizens from Citadel Space, so they had to come on the Nexus.

I'm learning that a lot of undesirables got brought on the Nexus, sort of last minute; people from the Terminus systems generally aren't considered upstanding citizens because it was mostly controlled by warlords and private entities. Anyone on the run from the Terminus either has something to hide, or is trying to get other to come back for the ride. Learned that back at Relay 202 from this old beat-up sergeant who did a lot of the inspections for ships coming through the relay under any flag but the Alliance. Old bastards dead by now, but he taught me a lot.

Anyway, Kandros said that in the Hierarchy, Nilken would be lucky to escape the death-penalty, though in actuality: for a proper turian from the Hierarchy, death after dishonor would be a mercy, compared to the things they'd do to someone who'd try to kill a superior officer. The things they'd do to a "bareface" turian from the Terminus, according to Kandros, doesn't even bear thinking about. Anything we might do to Rensus would be a slap on the wrist in comparison.

Long story very short, we decided that my evidence needed to be shown to Tann and the other directors before a sentence could be decided. Same with Atkins, so now I've got two hours carved out tomorrow of presenting my findings and then having to listen to that hop-skipping opportunist Tann. Angels give me strength.

Kandros and I parted company at the main security office in Ops. By that point, I just wanted to come back to the Tempest and lie down for a few days. Only as soon as I got back to the tram and was about to punch in a request for the docking ring, Doctor Carlyle rings me up and tells me he's figured out a way to talk to Sara, even though she's still in a coma.

Damn, but that tram couldn't move fast enough to get me back to the Hyperion.

When I finally got back to the Hyperion and the med-bay where Sara was under observation, Doctor Carlyle explained what they were going to try in more detail. Everyone on the Pathfinder team was given implants that allowed them to communicate with SAM, relaying biometric data on a near instantaneous link. While the link isn't nearly as profound as the one I share with SAM, it's enough so that once Harry and his team brought Sara out of her cryo pod, thawed out her brain, and allowed her mind to sort of "rise" to a certain level of consciousness, SAM was able to… make contact with her through her implant.

SAM?

 _{Accessing.}_

…

 **Scott: "So is she okay?"**

 _ **SAM: {"You can ask her yourself. A moment while I establish a link with her implant."}**_

 _ **Sara stirs slightly as the link is made, then relaxes back on the bio-bed.**_

 _ **SAM: {"Proceed."}**_

 **Scott: "Sara? Can you hear me?"**

 **Sara: ["Scott? Is that you? What's happening? Where am I?"]**

 **Scott: "There was a problem with your stasis pod. You're in a coma on the Hyperion. Do you understand?"**

 **Sara: ["I… I think so. Am I dreaming?"]**

 **Scott: "SAM linked into your implant. But they say that you're stable. You're safe and sound in the med-bay."**

 **Sara: ["This is so weird. I hear you, but I can't feel anything. Where's Dad? Is he doing okay?"]**

 _ **Scott looks up at Doctor Carlyle, face stricken. Doctor Carlyle's face is contorted in an expression of pain and empathy.**_

 **Scott: "He… Sara… Dad's dead. "**

 **Sara: ["What…?"]**

 **Scott: "There was an… accident. A freak accident. On Habitat 7…. He… I…"** _ **Scott trails off, tears leaking from his eyes.**_

 **Sara: ["But… it's Dad. He can't die. He…"]**

 **Scott: "I know, Sara. I know. It's been hard on everyone."**

 **Sara: ["I didn't get to say good-bye."]**

 **Scott: "None of us did, Sara."**

 **Sara: ["What about finding home? Dad kept telling me about how beautiful it would be."]**

 **Scott: "Habitat 7… was a bust, Sara. We're on Habitat 1 now. You remember? The desert world. The place that looked like it was straight out of the badlands of old New Mexico. It hasn't been easy, and… there've been a lot of set-backs. But you'll see everything we've accomplished when you're up and about. You'll see, I promise.**

 **Sara: ["That's good. I…"]**

 **Scott: "Sara?"**

 **Sara: [I… am I dreaming? Where am I?"]**

 **Scott: "Sara. I'm sorry…"**

 **SAM:** _ **{"Her pulse rate is increasing rapidly."}**_

 **Sara: ["I need to go now."]**

 _ **Doctor Carlyle rushes to the nearby console and severs the connection.**_ **Carlyle: "That's enough. It's too stressful."**

 **Scott: "Sara…"**

 **SAM:** _ **{"Her vital signs are stabilizing. She is in no danger.}**_

 **Carlyle: "We'll continue to monitor things from here. I'll keep you posted. Promise."**

 **Scott: "Thanks, Doc. Damn it!"**

 **Carlyle: "What?"**

 **Scott: "Can't they keep the environmental controls straight in this place? Feels like it's raining in here."**

 _ **Scott swipes an arm across his eyes, rubbing out the tear tracks across his face.**_

 **Carlyle: "Scott, I know things are tight right now. But maybe you should think about taking it easy for a couple of days. You've been through a lot over the last two weeks, and-"**

 **Scott: "I'm fine, Harry. Leave it."**

 **Carlyle: "That man's arm you broke says something different."**

 **Scott: "…"**

 **Carlyle: "Scott… If there's anything you want to talk about… anything you need to get off your chest… just know that my door's always open."**

 **Scott: "… Thanks Doc. I guess."**

 _ **With one last look at Sara's comatose form, Scott turns and leaves the med-bay.**_

…

 _{End of recording.}_

…

{Scott?}

 _ **Scott sits silently for several minutes in the darkness. Biometric readout report that he is crying.**_

[Hello? Pathfinder? Hey, Pathfinder, I know you're in there. Open up! It's Vetra!]

Fuck!

 _ **Scott jumps out of his chair and scrambles across the cabin in the dark.**_

Really need a fucking sink in here- towels, clothes, anything!

{There is a box of tissues in the cupboard beside the bed, Pathfinder.}

 _ **Scott darts to the bed, drags out the box and yanks out several tissues, blowing his nose and wiping his face.**_

[You okay in there?]

I'm fine, Vetra! Just give me a minute. SAM, up the lights, would you? But keep the windows closed.

 _{As you wish, Pathfinder.}_

Is there a mirror in here somewhere?

 _{Stand at the forward view-screen.}_

 _ **Scott stands as directed, and a visual rendering of his face in real time across the inside of the view-screen.**_

Wow, that's… actually really cool. Shit!

 _ **Scott quickly swipes the tissues across his face, clearing away the last traces of crying before tossing the tissues in the waste-basket.**_

Right. Open the door, SAM.

Hey, Scott. What took you so long?

Sorry Vetra, I was just… napping.

Yeah, heard you'd had a hard time on the station today. Anyway, I've got your locker.

 _ **Vetra pulls a gravity sled into the room, carrying an long, oblong container.**_

I didn't think you would be able to get it so fast.

Well, the guys in charge of Personal Storage on the Hyperion owed me a favor. Where do you want it?

By the coffee table is fine for now.

 _ **Vetra moves the sled to the table on the starboard side of the cabin and together, Vetra and Scott lift the locker and set it on the deck.**_

Hunh, pretty sure this is over the 20 kilo weight limit.

Yeah, well you're not the only one who knows people.

Touchy. Is that right?

Its pronounced touché, but you're close enough. Thanks for this Vetra.

Any time Pathfinder. By the way, what happened on the Hyperion today? Word on the grapevine is you caught some assassin trying to kill your sister and nearly tore him in half with your bare hands.

What the- Ugh… _**Scott covers his face with one hand, massaging his temples in a gesture of frustration.**_ For the record, it wasn't an assassin; just some SOB taking out his frustrations by setting up accidents. I caught him outside the med-bay where my sister was, he got mouthy and took a few swings at me, and I broke his arm and his face.

Heh. He got off lucky then. If I caught anyone trying to blow up my sister, I'd have ripped his head clean off. Don't worry Pathfinder. I'll make sure the right people know the truth.

Thanks, Vetra.

 _ **Vetra exits the cabin, taking the sled with her. Scott sinks onto the couch by the coffee table, staring up at the ceiling.**_

SAM? Any messages from the Directors?

 _{Director Tann has been attempting to contact you since shortly after you returned to the Tempest. Director Kandros sent a message requesting your presence at the security office as soon as possible to give an official statement on your actions regarding Dale Atkins. There are also messages from Directors Kesh and Addison.}_

Thanks SAM. I'll get to them soon, I promise. Just… not just yet. There's something we need to do first.

 _{What do you have in mind?}_

If I'm going to be the Pathfinder, then I might as well make this space my own. And to do that, it needs a few homey touches.

 _ **Scott gets up and kneels in front of the storage locker, accessing the locking mechanism and typing in a short code. There is a hissing sound as the seal on the locker pops open, and Scott lifts the lid, revealing the lockers contents in vacuum sealed bags.**_

Six-hundred years and it's all still here. Let's see, where is that knife? Ah! Here we go.

 _ **Scott tears open a vacuum bag with his teeth, and extract's a small and compact but heavy multi-tool.**_

2165 Swiss-army knife. Nothing technical about it, but it still works on everything from cutting cord and loosening screws to opening bottles and bodies. Never leave home without it.

 _ **Scott digs around among the vacuum bags, pulls one out, cuts open the bag with the knife and extracts a toy mech.**_

Greetings and salutations, Zord old buddy. Welcome to Andromeda.

 _ **Scott sets the toy on the coffee table and pulls two more packages out of the locker, before closing and sealing the container.**_

That'll do for now. I'll get the rest when I've got more time on my hands.

 _ **Scott puts the toy on the desk next to his personal computer before returning to the coffee table. Cutting open the other packages reveals they contained a guitar case and a picture frame. Scott leaves the guitar case on the coffee table, but carries the picture frame over to the bed, placing it on the nearby chest of drawers before turning it on. A picture of four people, the Ryder family, standing around one end of a table with a birthday cake. Sara, Alec, and Scott stand around a petite, older woman. Sara and Scott are laughing, Alec is smiling, and the woman is grinning widely, obviously enjoying the moment captured in digital pixels.**_

Welcome to Andromeda Mom. Watch out for Sara, okay? She needs all the help she can get. I gotta go take care of some stuff right now, but I'll be back, I promise. You'll have a front row seat to see everything this galaxy has to offer; you and Dad.

 _ **Scott sniffs and drags an arm across his face.**_

Hunh. Right. Game-face time. Ready SAM?

 _{Always, Pathfinder.}_

Open the windows SAM. Get some light in here. I'm heading straight to Ops, get this business cleaned up. Let's go.

 _{Logging you out, Pathfinder.}_

Scott turns and exits the cabin.

…

 **End recording.**

…

Authors Note: Wrote this while listening to Kesha's "Praying". I should be back on a normal schedule of updating with one chapter every week on Sundays. As always folks: read, review, and enjoy!


	18. Chapter 18

**Thoughts from Andromeda part 18**

By ElementalsAdvocate

…

 **Year 2819, Andromeda Galaxy, Heleus Cluster, The Nexus, Habitat Ring, Docking Pad 16, Night-Cycle, The Tempest, Pathfinder's Cabin**

…

Damn, I thought nobody could make MRE's taste good, but that sauce Drack threw together almost made that hamburger palatable.

 _{Drack sent a message to Vetra asking for spices. Chemical composition of the stock used in the sauce was made from fauna native to Eos: Challyrion bones and flank.}_

… Then I guess I'd better not ask what the steak was last night? Don't answer that. Rhetorical question.

Okay. **SAM, start recording.**

Well, the last couple of days haven't been the R-and-R I was hoping for. Instead of getting a chance to kick-back and take a breather, I've had to deal with one emergency after another, and in general I ended up making a mess out of everything.

The Directors are going to decide what to do with Dale Atkins and Nilken Rensus tomorrow, and Tann wants me to make a recommendation on what to do with Rensus in particular. On the block is exile for both of them. Atkins hurt a lot of people with his accidents, and Nilken, even if he didn't kill Reynolds, still tried to kill his superior officer under hazardous conditions. We don't have any prisons to house them, we don't have doctors to treat them and talk them through their screw-ups, and we don't have the resources to feed idle hands. And… I don't think anyone wants to be the first executioner in the Andromeda.

God… I wanted so badly to believe that this was all just an accident. But it wasn't… and with the research I've done into Nilken's past, it's hard not to understand why.

See… it's his wife. He rescued her from a pirate hold-out in the Attican Traverse, a year before the Initiative left the Milky Way. He did it, abandoning his employers, the Blue Suns Mercenary Company. The files don't go into details, but his psych report mentions his devotion to his wife and willingness to join being based on his care for her and his desire to start a family, away from the old social stigmas and laws in the Milky Way.

I confronted Nilken today with the recording. I got to build up a pretty heady temper-tantrum, got that close to turning a fucking table over too. Nilken finally admitted that he didn't want to die on Eos for someone who was going to get him killed, that he just wanted to get back to Mariette. Nilken tried to kill Reynolds because… he genuinely believed that Reynolds was going to get them all killed. And Nilken's driving motivation was his wife.

I can't help but wonder: what would Dad have done under similar circumstances? No N7 training, but himself and mom, alone amongst strangers, against everything that Andromeda could throw at them?

If Dad had been in Nilken's place, would he have done something different?

Would I?

Jeesus I can't think about this right now! Let's see if Granddad's guitar survived the trip.

 _ **Scott opens the guitar case on the coffee table, revealing a wooden seven-string guitar in the classic design, worn in places, but lovingly preserved, and the strings removed for travel.**_

Looks alright… Now let's see if those strings I mooched out of the engineers work.

 _ **Scott spends the next several minutes carefully restringing and tuning the instrument.**_

Did you know my grandfather was a soldier too? Marine Lieutenant Jacob Enfield Ryder. He joined up back in the bad old days of 2115, back when humanity was still picking itself up from The Last World War. Went through the New York Fire Bombings, and then got hit by a roadside bomb made by some ass-hole survivalist in rural Wisconsin. Playing the guitar was part of his therapy.

I think… I've got it. Now to play it. SAM: go into my music files, find Grand-dad's Music, and play "If I Had a Hammer".

 _{Yes, Pathfinder.}_

 _ **The voice that comes through the cabin speakers is a warm baritone, accompanied by a single guitar. As the music plays, Scott softly strums the guitar with his right hand, while his left hand picks out the chords on the neck.**_

Sounds pretty good. Did you know, SAM? I never met my grandfather. Never met any of my grandparents. They died before Sara and I were born. Dad just had everything packed into storage on Earth after his father died. It wasn't until we went back to Earth, and Dad started having trouble getting funding for his research, that we even found out about it. Dad was going to sell everything off, but Mom put her foot down. The three of us, Mom, Sara, and I got to go through everything in that storage container, and pick out anything we wanted to keep. I stumbled across Grandpa Jake's recordings first, and then picked up the guitar almost as an after-thought because I thought it might be cool. Mom kept some nick-knacks for Dad, and Sara held on to all the historical stuff; records and things like that. I think the only thing Dad ever kept of Grandpa was an old knife, stamped with the crest of the 2nd Marine Battalion.

Wonder if he's still got it...

Anyway, after we cleared out the storage container, Mom took us to visit our grand-parents memorials; took us half-way across the world. Mom's family came from India, Dad from North America. Dad… didn't talk about his parents much. Well, the truth is he didn't talk about them at all. I don't know why. But Mom took us to Dubai to see the Memorial Garden there.

It was really cool, especially for a couple of ten-year-olds. It was one of those new high-rise memorial gardens. I guess it might have been called a necropolis, except for the fact that the Hindu cremates their dead; so instead of graves and tombs, it's all plaques and statues and greenery; lots of light and color and sound. A place to remember the dead, and wish them well, as well as to mourn their passing. Lots of ceremonies and rituals. Mom used to say that people need these things to help

I certainly wouldn't mind something more substantial than Tann's greasy attempts at flattery and manipulation.

People… People need ceremonies… to show they're still part of something more. To prove, even if only to themselves, that what they do has an effect upon the world. Upon the universe! And that deserves remembering. How to do it, though…

 _ **Scott fingers a chord on the guitar, and then, in a manner that that indicates that he is thinking about something intently, begins to sing.**_

If I had a hammer  
I'd hammer in the morning  
I'd hammer in the evening  
All over this land  
I'd hammer out danger  
I'd hammer out warning  
I'd hammer out love between  
My brothers and my sisters  
All over this land, uh

If I had a bell  
I'd ring it in the morning  
I'd ring it in the evening  
All over this land  
I'd ring out danger  
I'd ring out a warning  
I'd ring out love between  
My brothers and my sisters  
All over this land, oh

If I had a song  
I'd sing it in the morning  
I'd sing it in the evening  
All over this land  
I'd sing out danger  
I'd song of out a warning  
I'd sing out love between  
My brothers and my sisters  
All over this land, oh

Well, I've got a hammer  
And I've got a bell  
And I've got a song to sing  
All over this land  
It's the hammer of justice  
It's the bell of freedom  
It's a song about love between  
My brothers and my sisters  
All over this land  
It's a hammer of justice  
It's a bell of freedom  
It's a song about love between my brothers and my sisters  
All over this land

…

A hammer… a bell… a song… a ceremony?

A Bell!

SAM! Call Superintendent Kesh, right now!

 _{Messaging.}_

 **[Ryder. What's going on?]**

Kesh, I just had a brainstorm. I think I can get Tann to give your people some time off. I need a favor though. Do you think your people can knock together a bell?

 **[A bell?]**

Yeah, a bell. Like an old ships bell. I can find the specifics and send them to you. But I need to know, can you do it?

 **[Of course, but we don't-]**

Fantastic! Oh, and is there some space on the Habitat Ring no one's using? Enough space for a small park?

 **[Ryder, are you drunk?]**

No, I'm not drunk. Maybe a little crazy. Look, I'm coming over. Have some sketch pads ready when I get there.

 **[Fine. If it gets my engineering teams a break, I'll listen. But you'd better have a damn good idea, Ryder.]**

Hey, I've got lots of great ideas. See you in a bit.

 **SAM, stop recording.** And SAM?

 _{Yes, Pathfinder?}_

Thank you.

 _{For what exactly, Pathfinder?}_

For being you, and being such a great listener.

 _{You are welcome, Pathfinder. Logging you out.}_

…

Authors Note: Apologies for late update. A close friend had an emergency on Sunday.

 _If I Had a Hammer_ was written by Lee Hays and the awesome Pete Seeger. Copyright: T.R.O. Inc.


	19. Chapter 19

**Thoughts from Andromeda part 19**

By ElementalsAdvocate

…

 **Year 2819, Andromeda Galaxy, Heleus Cluster, The Nexus, Habitat Ring, Docking Pad 16, The Tempest, Pathfinder's Cabin**

…

 _{Pathfinder.}_

…

 _{Pathfinder.}_

…

 _{Pathfinder?}_

Ugh…

 _{Pathfinder? Pathfinder, it is 0900 Nexus time.}_

Aah… Ack! SAM… did you happen to get the name on the cruiser that hit me? And… gah! What got into my mouth and died?

 _{I believe you are suffering from what is known as a hangover, Scott.}_

Okay, so I got drunk. I've been drunk before. It never left me like… this- Oh! Fahva-bananas!

 _ **Scott stumbles to a nearby waste-basket and vomits.**_

Frak-magga… that was- oh shit-!

 _ **Scott vomits again.**_

 _{Should I call Doctor T'Perro?}_

No! Please! Ah- Oh, my head… No, no don't call her SAM. That is the absolute last thing I need right now. Shimagi-batusha… this sucks… lots. Uh…

 _ **Scott turns over, resting his head against the deck.**_

Mmmm… Cool floor. Nice.

 _{Pathfinder, there are messages for you.}_

Do I have to get up for them?

 _{I can relate the contents of the messages.}_

That's good… that's just fine. Give me the first one, please?

 _{From Liam Costa:_ _ **Hey Scott. Awesome party last night. Thanks for bringing the flag by; that was a real shot in the arm for the people around here. Let's do it again soon, ok?}**_

…Flag?

 _{I believe Mr. Costa is referring to the flag from Prodromos you hung in the Vortex Lounge last night.}_

What?

 _{I believe you said that the Vortex Lounge was a much worthier place to hang the flag of the Initiative's first successful outpost than on Tann's office wall.}_

I said- SAM! Did I get- Please tell me I didn't get… Shakespearian? Did I?

 _{… Define Shakespearian. Shakespearean: relating to or characteristic of William Shakespeare or his works.}_

I mean: did I start insulting anyone?

 _{No. You did make a number of disparaging comments about Director Tann to a journalist while you were in the Vortex Lounge, though you were clearly drunk at the time.}_

A journalist! Holy shit! Why didn't you stop me- Oh! Gah, my head!

 _{While I am able to offer analysis of input data and sometimes advice, I am not your conscience, Scott. Or your mother.}_

What the f- ah! Ow! Ow! Owie. Ugh… Guess I deserved that. Look, can you please do something about this headache?

 _{You asked me last night not to interfere with the effects of the alcohol in your system unless it became life-threatening. As it stands, I have already been making minute changes to your physiology to better withstand the effects of the alcohol and other substances you imbibed before returning to the Tempest last night.}_

You mean… if it weren't for you, I'd be feeling… _worse_?

 _{In a word: yes.}_

Jeesus. What did I have to drink?

 _{In the order imbibed: A Dirty Squirrel, a Tall Moose, a Rotten Scoundrel, a Lucky Leprechaun-}_

Stop! Stop! Stop stop stop, please. No more. Gah!

Okay… I need a cold shower, and a trip to the refresher… and probably a change of clothes. I'll be back in five minutes. Then, you're going to tell me everything that happened yesterday, understand?

 _{As you wish, Pathfinder.}_

 _ **Groaning, Scott clambers to his feet and stumbles out of the cabin, down to the bathroom, where, fully clothed, he places himself underneath the shower head and turns on the cold-water, full blast, eliciting a deluge of profanity in the process.**_

 _ **Fifteen minutes later, after showering and a visit to the head, Scott returns to the Pathfinder's cabin before stripping out of his wet clothes.**_

Dammit I hate being cold. Really hate being cold. Cold and wet is even worse. Rather be hot and dry than cold and wet.

Okay SAM, start talking. What happened yesterday?

 _{You spent several hours the previous night talking with Kesh about your idea for a memorial park in the Habitat Ring to commemorate the deaths on the Nexus and the Arks. You agreed to accept the work-load of one of her engineering teams for the day in return for their help designing and casting the bell for the Hyperion. After that, you stopped at Security in Operations and spoke with Nilken Rensus before returning to the Tempest.}_

Okay, I remember that much. I wanted to talk to Nilken about his options; Exile or Community Service under the stigma of attempting to kill his superior officer under fire. Keep going.

 _{The next morning, you spent approximately four hours repairing and providing maintenance in various areas across the station including Operations, Hydroponics, Engineering, and the Factory Floors.}_

Yeah, and you were a big help with that. I doubt I'd have gotten a quarter of that maintenance done, much less the repairs.

 _{You finally stopped when Director Tann sent a message demanding your recommendation on the matter of Nilken Rensus.}_

Yeah… And I recommended that with the evidence gathered on Eos, that Rensus should be exiled. Even if he was repentant, even if he didn't kill Reynolds, he still intended to kill him, and lied about it afterwards. He didn't take command, didn't prove that he was somehow the better leader; just eliminated the thing that got in his way and left the cards to fall where they may. Even if he served his time, even if he never did another bad thing in his life…

…what person in their right mind would place their trust in someone like that, so long as it was known what they did? And I wasn't about to cover for Rensus. Not after everything that's happened. There's enough secrets and ignorance around here without spreading some of my own.

I gave Rensus the choice: got into exile, or take his chances with the folks here on the Nexus after they found out what he did. And he chose exile.

Still left a bad taste in my mouth to say as much to Tann, though.

Go on, what happened next?

 _{You continued making repairs until 1542, when you were confronted by Mariette Rensus in Operations about Nilken's sentence.}_

Oh, Jeesus that was a mess. Right there in front of everyone and she was screaming like a hawk right in my face. Nearly ripped my face off when she took a swing at me. Took Kandros and two other officers to pull her off me. Damn- the bandage is gone. I can still feel the cuts. Damn, what a mess.

 _{It is understandable that she would be distraught. However, you did give Rensus the choice.}_

Yeah, but I should have found another way. Or could I? I don't know. Dad would have found a way. He would have.

Damn it, I don't know.

Anyway, what happened after that?

 _{After your cuts were treated, you signed off with Kesh and left for the Tempest, where you met Liam Costa, who proceeded to invite you to the new Vortex Lounge on the Docking Ring for a drink to commiserate on the conclusion of the Rensus case.}_

Heh, the Vortex. Made inside the gutted remains of a chemistry lab that was hit by Scourge, and somehow got converted into a bar and lounge. What was the name of that whiny bartender?

 _{Dutch Smith; 32, Chemist, no relations at time of departure from the Milky Way Galaxy.}_

Yeah. Heh, guy kept grousing about how everybody kept bringing him stuff and being nice to him for letting them be his guinea pigs. That's right isn't it?

 _{Uploading relevant audio recording.}_

…

 **Dutch Smith: "Another one. Damn it. This is supposed to be a chemistry lab. My chemistry lab. You all keep crawling out of the wood-work like… space cockroaches!"**

 **Aman T'Mani: "You say that Dutch, but here you are, pouring people drinks…"**

 **Ryder: "Uh, hi, I'm standing right here."**

 **Dutch: "They're guinea pigs, damn it. Chemists should have guinea pigs. Not have their labs taken over by people giving them things and… and… being nice!"**

 **Ryder: "Bad people. Giving you free things and helping you set up. So inconsiderate."**

 **Dutch: "Right? They keep bringing things! Tables and chairs, and this bar, and lights and… wait… you're making fun of me, aren't you?"**

 **T'Mani: "Don't let Dutch put you off. He's a sweetie, really."**

 **Dutch: "Am not."**

 **T'Mani: "And the drinks are good."**

 **Dutch: "Damn right they are! Uh, I mean- Ugh. Here. Have a Dirty Squirrel."**

 _ **The sound of a drink being poured into a cup, and the sound of someone drinking it.**_

 **{End of log}**

…

Heh. So, I turned myself into a guinea pig for an irate chemist turned bartender? Jeesus, that's a laugh. So, where does the reporter come into this?

 _{At 1714, an asari entered the bar and approached you, introducing herself as Keri T'Vessa, a journalist working on a project for Director Tann. On that note, she did send you a message asking for an interview beforehand.}_

Hunh. Don't remember that.

 _{By this time, you had tried several different varieties of drinks offered by Dutch, including one he referred to as The Drink of the Hour: The Lucky Leprechaun.}_

Yeah, it was… green, I think.

 _{Analysis also shows that it was composed of approximately 41.67% ethanol alcohol.}_

Jeesus! No wonder I woke up feeling like I got hit by Arcturus Station! Wait a minute. Did I have it before or after I talked to the reporter?

 _{Before. As well as other varieties of alcoholic mixed drink which I mentioned before.}_

Yeah. The Rotten Moose and the Tall Scoundrel, I think you said. Jeesus. Okay, give me the worst.

 _{Uploading relevant audio log.}_

…

 **Keri T'Vessa: "Pathfinder. Keri T'Vessa. Freelance vidmaker. I sent you a message asking for an interview, remember? I was waiting for you at the Tempest, but someone told us you were here."**

 **Ryder: "Oh yeah, I remember… I think. Whew! Dutch, this stuff kicks harder than a kett Fiend. Hey Liam! Try this and tell me it doesn't hit harder than that Fiend we killed on Eos."**

 **T'Vessa: "Director Tann's asked me to provide an "uplifting" documentary on the Initiative. Translation: "paint rainbows over our problems."**

 **Ryder: "Sounds like him. Our inestimable leader is about as subtle as a free-falling safe through the ceiling of a glass house sometimes, the greasy cloaca. I'm sorry, you want something to drink? This stuff's amazing."**

 **T'Vessa: "Uh, no, thank you. But, of course, now that you're here, that we have a Pathfinder, our problems are history. The people deserve the truth, not propaganda."**

 **Ryder: "And you're absolutely right, couldn't agree more. Hey, want to see if I can make all these cups float in the air? I can you know. As a biotic, I have the ability to make just about anything float. Watch this!"**

 **T'Vessa: "Maybe I should come back another time."**

 **Ryder: "No way! Stay, drink and be merry! That's what this place is for right? Everybody outside is a bunch of sour-pusses and doom-sayers, waiting to tear a guy down for making the tough choices, but in here, it's always happy hour!"**

 **Costa: "Damn straight! To the Tempest!"**

 **Ryder: "To the Tempest and her crew! Drinks on me everybody!"**

Stop! Please, no more!

 _{Terminating audio log.}_

 _{…}_

Okay, SAM. I just have one question. Are there any messages from Kandros or Security about what I did, _whatever_ I did, last night? Am I likely to get thrown in a cell for whatever happened last night?

{No Pathfinder. There are no messages from Director Kandros or from Station Security in your Inbox.}

Thank Heavens for small mercies. Okay. Call Liam. Now.

 _{Messaging Specialist Costa.}_

 **[Hey Ryder. What's up?]**

Liam, I'm not feeling too good right now, so I'd appreciate it if you could just give me the abridged version of what happened last night at The Vortex.

 **[Well, let's see. You juggled cups with your biotics, surfed a table across the room and into the wall, drank three Lucky Leprechauns in less than thirty seconds… oh! And you asked Kesh out on a date-]**

I WHAT?!

 **[Yeah, sent a vid-message and everything right there at the bar. Said she needed a chance to unwind with the rest of us.]**

Ha…

 **[Then you disappeared for a while, and when you turned up again, you had the flag from Prodromos with you. Hung it on the wall over the bar. Really appreciate that by the way. The crowd loved it. Everybody was throwing toasts around like it was the World Cup.]**

A hunh…

 **[Anyway; you said you were going back to the Tempest to get your guitar, and that's the last I saw of you. I didn't even know you played!]**

Yeah… well, I kind of wish you wouldn't spread it about Liam. In fact, I'd appreciate it if you forgot last night ever happened. Period.

 **[No promises mate. By the way, we still shipping out tomorrow?]**

What?

 **[Yeah, you sent a message out this morning from Director Tann. Supplies are ready and Gil's gone over the Tempest with a fine-tooth comb. We're ready to go aren't we?]**

Uhhh… Let me get back to you on that Liam. And remember: last night NEVER HAPPENED.

 **[Sure thing Boss. But you don't know what you're missing.]**

 _{Link is severed.}_

SAM… is there any messages from Kesh from last night?

 _{Yes, Pathfinder.}_

Slip-stingle baccarat in a blender… I'm a dead man! SAM, begin transfer Pathfinder protocols to Cora! If I'm quick enough, I might be able to send an apology and a suicide note before Kesh gets a hold of me-!

 _{Pathfinder, accessing audio message from Superintendent Nakmor Kesh.}_

 **[Ryder. I spoke with Captain Dunn, and she's agreed that it's not a bad idea in concept. We'll be meeting with the other directors at 1030 hours tomorrow morning in the Pathfinder HQ to discuss specifics. Since this is your brainchild, I suggest you attend.]**

 **[By the way; if you can convince Director Eighth to give my repair teams more than a few hours off, and bring some decent Ryncol, I might take you up on your offer. Kesh out.]**

 _ **Scott slowly sinks to his knees and covers his face with his hands.**_

…That's it. Stick a fork in me SAM, I'm done. I'm done. Just kill me now; put me out of my misery.

 _{Pathfinder, killing you at this point would be counter-productive; both for me, personally, and for the Initiative as a whole. You must realize this.}_

Yes SAM, I just… God!

 _{Pathfinder, I hate to press you, but it is fifteen minutes after 10.}_

So?

 _{So, if you're going to make it in time for your meeting with the Director's at 10:30, you need to leave. Right now.}_

SAM, I hate you.

 _{Logging you out Pathfinder.}_


	20. Chapter 20

**Thoughts from Andromeda part 20**

By ElementalsAdvocate

…

 **Year 2819, Andromeda Galaxy, Heleus Cluster, The Nexus, Ark Hyperion, SAM Node**

…

SAM, **start recording.**

I don't know how much time I've got before the rest of the Hyperion Pathfinder team gets here, so I need to get this done quickly.

Number 1: the bell is ready, and we're going to hold a ceremony in the Hyperion Commons in three days at noon, just before the Tempest leaves for the next Vault. Captain Dunn will officiate. It's going to take at least three days to set everything up, and that's if I can take over the maintenance work for a couple of engineering crews during that time. Joy. But, I can use the experience. Might as well start learning about the in's-and-outs of the Nexus, and how much damage the station took when it arrived in the Cluster.

Number 2: Tann's given the go-ahead for the memorial garden, provisionally at any rate. Took some convincing, but I managed convince him by appealing to his bias for the old Citadel Council power-structure. The basic design for the garden is going to look similar to the Citadel: five plinths and five bells representing the five arks, surrounding a central plinth and bell, representing the Nexus. For now, it's just going to be the Hyperion's bell until we make contact with the other arks, and other bells will be added as the arks are found.

Hyperion's bell is going to be pretty standard; not like we have the resources for anything fancy. Brass, with a clapper inside attached to a rope for people to ring it. Hyperion's name is engraved on the side, along with the names of the Luna Shipyards where the Hyperion was constructed, and Captain Dunn, and Dad as Hyperion's original Pathfinder.

Uh… Number 3: I also managed to convince Tann to give everyone a brief holiday over the next week after the Hyperion Bell ceremony. Everybody will be getting a half-day off to do whatever they like; sleep, read, socialize, get drunk, or just catch up on their paper-work. It's going to be a bit of a nightmare to schedule, but I'm leaving most of that in the hands of the people here on the Nexus to work out for themselves.

Anything else? SAM?

 _{You have yet to access the memory unlocked by your progress as Pathfinder on Eos.}_

Oh yeah… with everything that's been happening lately I completely forgot. Well, no time like the present.

 _{A moment, Pathfinder. You will experience these memories directly. It may be advisable for you to sit down at this point.}_

Wait- you mean, I'll actually experience Dad's memories? They won't just appear on a screen?

 _{This memory is from the time your father was posted on the Citadel.}_

SAM-.

 _ **{Uploading}**_

 **Timestamp: February 4** **th** **, 2170. Citadel Space Station, Presidium Ring, System's Alliance Embassy Building, Office #32, Alec Ryder.**

 **Present: Alec Ryder, Military Attaché to the Systems Alliance Embassy on the Citadel. Anita Goyle, Ambassador of the Systems Alliance to the Citadel Council. Donnel Udina, Deputy Ambassador to the Systems Alliance Embassy and Political Advisor to Ambassador Anita Goyle.**

 **Alec is sitting at his desk. Ambassador Goyle stands, holding a holo-pad and scrutinizing its contents. Deputy Ambassador Udina stands off to one side of the room, waiting on the Ambassador.**

 **Ambassador Goyle: "Alec, your recommendations will never fly. Artificial intelligence?" Goyle sits in a chair opposite Alec to confront him directly.**

 **Alec: "It's our best option."**

 **Goyle: "If the Council gets wind of this, it'll set humanities standing back decades. You're over-reaching."**

 **Alec: "Ambassador Goyle, I'm the military attaché on the Citadel. My mandate is clear: find an edge for Earth."**

 **Goyle: "And AI is your answer?"**

 **Alec: "We need to catch up. The asari and the salarians – they're centuries ahead of us."**

 **Ambassador Goyle remains silent, clearly considering the situation.**

 **Udina: "But it's illegal." Udina moves to a point directly behind and to the right of Ambassador Goyle, simultaneously providing support for the ambassador while also providing a differing viewpoint.**

 **Alec: "Their rules, not ours. Why deny Earth an advantage?"**

 **Goyle: "Define this advantage."**

 **Alec: "It will set us free. We're prisoners of our own five senses. There's a reality greater than ours that we can't perceive - but an AI can."**

 **Udina: "How?"**

 **Alec: "By augmenting our own abilities, and adding a few new ones."**

 **Udina: "Well, none of that stopped those Geth from revolting."**

 **Alec: "Because they were separate from their creators. But AI's and humans interfaced directly, experiencing the world together, benefits both. There's no creator to revolt against."**

 **Ambassador Goyle exchanges a look with Udina. Udina shakes his head silently.**

 **Goyle: "I'm sorry Alec. We can't take the risk. I appreciate your work, but your request will be denied." Goyle stands and leaves the room, followed closely by Udina.**

 **Alec sighs in frustration and massages his faces with one hand.**

 **Ellen: "Alec?"**

 **Alec turns to look at the screen on his desk, showing a live feed of his wife, Ellen Ryder.**

 **Alec: "Ellen. What did the doctor say?"**

 **Ellen: "He told me to appreciate the time I have left. There's no cure, Alec. It's terminal."**

 **Alec: "Not on my watch."**

 **Ellen: "Alec…"**

 **Alec: "Don't worry Ellen. I'm coming over now."**

 **Ellen: "Not without Sara and Scott. They should know what's going on."**

 **Alec: "They're only six-"**

 **Ellen: "Didn't you tell me that you were five the first time you saw your father in the hospital?"**

 **Alec: "That was different."**

 **Ellen: "How?"**

 **Alec: "They thought he was going to die."**

 **Ellen: "And what's going to happen to me, Alec? Even if I'm not going to die right this minute-"**

 **Alec: "Let's not talk about this now. I'll pick up the twins."**

 **Ellen: "While you're there, make sure they haven't found their birthday presents. The package arrived just before I left, and I had to hide it in the closet. I know they probably won't find it on the top shelf, but you never know. Last week I caught them working together to try and Lift the cookie jar off the top shelf in the kitchen."**

 **Alec: "Hunh. When I was that age, I just used a chair and a broom."**

 **Ellen: "They are your children."**

 **Alec: "No, they're your children."**

 **Ellen: "They're** _ **our**_ **children."**

 **Alec: "Okay, okay, I'll check. See you soon, Ellen."**

 _ **{Memory Ends}**_

…

…

…

 _{Scott?}_

Where is my father?

 _{Scott, that may not be-}_

I didn't ask if it was a good idea. I asked: where is my father?

 _{… Starboard Observation Lounge, level 8.}_

Thank you.

 **Scott deliberately activates his omni-tool and shuts down his biotic amp interface, before reaching around to the back of his neck and removing the wafer thin instrument.**

Not taking any chances.

 **Scott places the amp on the counter and leaves the Pathfinder's Quarters, walking steadily across the Hyperion Commons to the tram.**

 **Scott enters the tram and inputs a request for level 8. Five minutes later, the tram arrives at the Level 8 Observation Lounge.**

Why… why is he all the way out here?

 _{Doctor Carlyle and Lieutenant Harper believed that it would be appropriate.}_

What do you mean by- whoa…

 **At that moment, the bulkhead doors cycled open, revealing a spartan interior with a series of long benches, couches, and tables down the middle of the room for 20 meters, with a panoramic floor to ceiling window along the entire length of the outer wall. Beyond the void of space, the curvature of the gas giant Ma Huan is visible, reflecting starlight in blue-green vapors of hydrogen and methane, and beyond that, the stars of Andromeda are visible.**

Wow… this is… wow.

 **Ryder walks forward until his nose almost touches the window, and then notices the oblong box set at the base of the window. A name plate on the cover is the only thing identifying the boxes contents.**

 _ **Alec Ryder. N7. Pathfinder, Ark Hyperion**_

 **Slowly, Scott kneels down beside the coffin, accessing its internal sensors via his omni-tool and deactivating the locking mechanism and the internal stasis field, releasing an audible hiss as the seal is broken.**

 **Scott is consciously controlling his breathing, taking deep even breaths. His hands tremble as they get closer and closer to the coffin lid, before firmly grasping the edge and pulling the coffin open.**

 **Alec is lying on his back, hands clasped across his chest, still in the specially designed Pathfinder armor with the N7 logo and coloring in black and red he wore on Habitat 7. His face is visible without his helmet, eyes closed, grey hair swept away from his lined face, his jaw still marked with grey stubble.**

 _{Scott?}_

 **Scott slams the coffin lid shut and stumbles away, all the way to the back wall of the observatory, where he follows the wall and falls out of the door.**

 _{Scott?}_

YEEEEAAAAAARRRGH!

 **Scott howls inarticulately, punching the bulkhead beside him, beating on it with both fists. Tears spark from his eyes; fluids fill his nostrils, heart-rate rockets, adrenaline and other chemicals whipping through his system. Biotic nodes activate in sympathy to Scott's distress, wrapping both hands in fits and bursts of dark-energy, leaving visible imprints in the plasma-forged steel bulkhead.**

 _ **{Messaging Lieutenant Harper.}**_

 **[SAM?]**

 _ **{Lieutenant, the Pathfinder is just outside the Starboard Observation Lounge, level 8. He… asked to see Alec.}**_

 **[… Shit. I'm on my way.]**

 _ **{I would advise speed. The Pathfinder is currently without his biotic amp, however-}**_

 **[I get it. Just do what you can.]**

 **It takes ten minutes for Lieutenant Harper to get to the Observation Lounge by tram. When she enters, she finds the Pathfinder sitting against the corridor wall, dispassionately looking at the haptic screen interface on his omni-tool, opposite a bulkhead visibly deformed by numerous blows, including a thin crack running from ceiling to floor. His hands and arms show multiple cuts and bruises, some still oozing blood across the floor and into his clothes. His nose is broken, a jagged cut runs across his forehead, blood mixing with the tracks of tears and snot across his face.**

Hey Harper.

Scott! What did you do to yourself? **Harper rushes back into the tram and drags out a medical kit.**

Yeah. Not a bad job, for a biotic without an amp. Says here on my omni-tool that SAM's messing with my brain to calm me down, so if I'm talking funny, that's why.

Talking funny is the least of your problems. Dammit! **Harper breaks open a packet of medi-gel and starts smearing it across the largest cuts.**

Don't worry Harper. SAM's accelerating the coagulating factors in my blood. I'll be fine in a couple of minutes.

That's as may be, but if you don't want this cut on your head to scar, we need to get down to the med-bay now and get it stitched up.

I'm not going anywhere.

Yes you are. Now stop acting like a child and just-

I said I'm not going anywhere. **Scott reaches up and pulls Harper down to sit beside him.**

Ryder-

Just- don't go anywhere… please?

…Fine.

 **They sit together for approximately forty seconds, and then Scott speaks.**

Did you know that when I was six, someone tried to kidnap me and Sara?

No.

Yeah… this was back when we were still living on the Citadel, and Dad was working at the Embassy. Mom was in the hospital again; complications from her research with eezo. Dad came home early that day, and for some reason he told our baby-sitter to leave. It wasn't our usual sitter; Mom had an arrangement with the Embassy so that Sara and I would have someone looking after us while she and Dad were working. For some reason our usual sitter couldn't come, so they sent this other lady. But as soon as Dad walked in, he asked her to leave the apartment.

I remember… Dad looking out the window, watching the street below. Then he took Sara and me upstairs to Mom and Dad's bedroom and into their big walk-in closet, said he had a surprise for us. When we got there, he pulled out toys from our favorite vid: Zena and Zord, Explorer's Extraordinaire.

I remember that. "Two explorers, brother and sister, traveling the galaxy in search of adventure and science."

Yeah, that's right. Dad gave me the black mech of Zord, and Sara got the white mech of Zena. Still got them as a matter of fact… Then he told us that some people were coming over to talk with him, and that he needed us to stay in the closet because they might get rowdy. He asked us not to come out until he came back and opened the door. He left a box of cookies and some juices pouches with us before he closed the door.

We didn't think anything of it. We were just glad to have some new toys. The lights flickered once, but then the back-ups came on and we kept playing. We heard a lot of noises outside; shouting, bangs, crashes, and once, something hitting the closet door. Then everything got quiet.

We played in the closet for a long time, but then Sara had to go to the bathroom really bad. Dad had locked the closet door from the outside, but Mom had showed us how to open the closet from the inside in case we ever locked ourselves in accidentally.

When we came out of the closet, the carpet was red and sticky. I said it was probably juice someone spilled. The bathroom was just next door, so Sara went in and I stayed in the hall. That's when I heard Dad's voice down the hall, coming from the living room. Our apartment was a two-story thing, with a living room and a landing overlooking it, so I went to find out who Dad was talking to.

Our living room… looked like a bomb had gone off. The furniture was destroyed, the walls covered with bullet holes, everything torn to pieces. There were six bodies on the floor, and two more were lying at the bottom of the stairs, all of them in armor, helmets so I couldn't see their faces, but they all looked human. There were guns stacked up against one of the couches. Shotguns, hand-guns, assault rifles, SMG's, belts of grenades and ammo, and a couple of hypo-spray cans.

And Dad… Dad was standing in the middle of it all. He was wearing armor too… the first time I'd ever seen him wearing anything besides suits and civilian wear. Black and red... and he had a pistol mag-locked to his right thigh. Nothing else. No other weapon that I could see. Didn't have a mark on him.

N7... Damn. It's one thing to hear about what those beasts can do. Something else to see it in reality.

Yeah. Only reason I recognized him was because he wasn't wearing a helmet and I could see the back of his head. He was talking into a comm unit. I'll never forget what he said.

"I don't care about your prerogatives, Jack. I don't care if you didn't authorize this, or if we're ultimately fighting on the same side, or even if you consider me a friend. If you, or your organization, or anyone for that matter, comes after my family, my kids… I will hunt you down. I will find you, wherever you are, and I will end you. That is not a threat. That is a promise. A promise from an N7."

Then he shut the comm off and stuck it in his pocket.

I'd never heard him talk like that before. Never heard him really angry before…

So what happened then?

Sara flushed the toilet and I ran away before Dad could catch me. We went back in the closet and stayed there until Dad came back. He was out of his armor, didn't have the gun anymore. He said we were going to see Mom at the hospital, and that if we were good, he would give us another surprise. He had us cover our eyes, and he carried us through the apartment. Said that the guests made a mess and some people would come to clean it up. Carried us all the way to the car, and then we left for the hospital. When we got there, Mom was waiting for us, and she must have known what happened, cause she hugged us real tight and didn't let us go until we got to the Embassy on the Presidium. We stayed with Mom while Dad went to talk with some people. When he came back, Dad said we were moving off the Citadel, back to Earth, and that we'd get the chance to go to school, and make friends, and go exploring all over the world, get to see all the sights, explore the deepest oceans, go mountain climbing, and all the great stuff you could do on a real world.

I never told Dad what I saw that day, though I think he must have known, or figured it out, because a couple days after we came back to Earth, he took me aside. He looked me right in the eye and said, "You only have one sister, one mother, one father, just as I have only one wife, one Sara, one Scott. There is nothing I wouldn't do to protect you. Never forget that." And I never have.

Wow… that's… I had no idea-

I got him killed, Harper. You understand? I as good as tore his heart out. And… I killed Mom, too.

What…?

There was an accident in the lab where Mom worked, researching biotics. Afterwards, during a medical exam, she found out she was pregnant. The doctors said that contamination from the eezo had already entered her tissues, into her womb, and if the eezo wasn't removed, quickly, there would be consequences, probably for the rest of her life. The best way to do that was to terminate the pregnancy, but Mom wouldn't allow it. She went through eight months of slow torture for me and Sara, and after we were born, she spent the rest of her life in and out of hospitals.

If she'd only terminated the pregnancy, then she wouldn't have had to go to the hospital every other month for the rest of her life. She and Dad could have had other kids, she could have kept doing her research, Dad wouldn't have had to spend his life dealing with all our shit… and he'd still be alive. _They'd_ still be alive.

I'm a screw up Cora. A failed marine. Dad was an N7, a hero in his own right. A scientist, the driving force in the Initiative, the man who saw the dream of crossing to another galaxy fulfilled. Mom gave everything for us; her career, her research, her friends, her colleagues, to make sure we had something like a normal life.

Why would he – why would _anyone_ choose me over them?

I… I don't… I don't know, Scott.

 **They sit in silence for several minutes. Then, slowly, in a cracked voice, Scott begins to sing. As he sings, tears leak from the corners of his eyes and down his face.**

A farmer and a teacher, a hooker and a preacher  
Riding on a midnight bus bound for Mexico  
One was headed for vacation, one for higher education  
And two of them were searching for lost souls  
That driver never ever saw the stop sign  
And eighteen wheelers can't stop on a dime

There are three wooden crosses on the right side of the highway  
Why there's not four of them, Heaven only knows  
I guess it's not what you take when you leave this world behind you  
It's what you leave behind you when you go

That farmer left a harvest, a home and eighty acres  
The faith and love for growing things in his young son's heart  
An' that teacher left her wisdom in the minds of lots of children  
Did her best to give 'em all a better start  
An' that preacher whispered: "Can't you see the Promised Land?"  
As he laid his blood-stained bible in that hooker's hand

There are three wooden crosses on the right side of the highway  
Why there's not four of them, Heaven only knows  
I guess it's not what you take when you leave this world behind you  
It's what you leave behind you when you go

That's the story that our preacher told last Sunday  
As he held that blood-stained bible up  
For all of us to see  
He said: "Bless the farmer, and the teacher, and the preacher  
"Who gave this Bible to my mamma  
"Who read it to me"

There are three wooden crosses on the right side of the highway  
Why there's not four of them, now I guess we know  
It's not what you take when you leave this world behind you  
It's what you leave behind you when you go

There are three wooden crosses on the right side of the highway

 **When Scott finally reaches the end of the song, his eyes are not the only one's filled with tears.**

I didn't know you sang.

You didn't ask.

Yeah, I guess I didn't.

Still want to drag me down to the med-bay?

Yes- no- I… Ugh! **Cora shakes her head.** You are impossible you know that?

Think anyone's noticed the fuss? I mean I did crack a bulkhead.

Probably.

Want to do something about it?

Not particularly.

Didn't do too bad.

Yeah, well, anyone can break things by accident.

Hey, I once put a hole through six inches of steel from over fifty feet away on a prototype L4.

Do it while under fire from a Tomkah, and I might be impressed.

 _ **{End recording.}**_

…

 _ **Authors Note: A big shout-out to**_ **A Glass Dragon** _ **for his insightful and heart-warming review. I hope this latest chapter meets with your approval.**_


	21. Chapter 21

**Thoughts from Andromeda part 21**

By ElementalsAdvocate

…

 **Year 2819, Andromeda Galaxy, Heleus Cluster, The Nexus, Habitat Ring, Docking Pad 16, The Tempest, Pathfinder's Cabin**

…

SAM, dim the lights please. **Start recording.**

Well… shit, I don't know where to start.

Okay.

I woke up this morning with a hangover, vomited (twice), found out that I went out on a "biotic bender", hoisted the Prodromos flag over at the Vortex Lounge, and asked one of my superiors out on a date, all in the space of one night. Joy.

Then I had to run out to a meeting with the Directors on one cup of coffee and a tube of paste that tasted like cement and strawberries. Got there five minutes late, and had to endure Tann's fast talking, book-keeper style of resource allocation and political opportunism policies on a headache and a stomachache. Joy and be-jeesus.

Finally got out of there, and I'm actually feeling really good about things after a trip to the refresher, so I try and exercise a little Pathfinder's responsibility by setting up a meeting for the Pathfinder Team on the Hyperion to discuss Pathfinder selection protocols. You know, just in case I croak. I've got some time on my hands, so I head down to SAM Node, and SAM plugs me into one of Dad's memories.

Big mistake.

I not only see the world through Dad's eyes, but I see Mom again and… it had to be _that_ day. The day when everything changed.

By the time I came out of the memory, I don't even remember what I was thinking or feeling. I just knew I had to see Dad.

Bigger mistake.

I don't know how I had the sense to unplug my biotic amp before-hand, but I did. I don't know how I missed running into anybody, but I did. And when I finally got to the room where they put Dad's casket… I almost didn't open it. But I did.

Mistake maximus.

I lost it. Again. Only worse this time. I was just… so… _angry_.

Took a few minutes, but SAM finally got me calmed down. Didn't use words, just fiddled with my chemistry using my implants and that is… not fair. Really not fair.

Deep breaths, Scott. Deep breaths.

And what's worse, it's Harper who comes and finds me. The lady hates my guts, and she's the one who finds me. How does that happen?

 _{I asked her.}_

… Figures. SAM, you traitor-

 _{Lieutenant Harper has the most experience when dealing with biotics in dangerous and unstable situations. Furthermore, she is your second-in-command.}_

Yeah, my second in command, WHO HATES MY GUTS! Damn it, SAM! Do you not understand the nature of a professional façade? Because that's what I see whenever I look at Harper; a professional façade and military discipline all clamped down over indignation and self-righteous fury on top of a bouncing biotic blue upbringing, with all that entails!

Jeesus! I know where she's coming from, alright! I know what it's like to feel like there's no proper place for myself, trying to act normal, trying to fill the niche that society allows for me, all the while holding back from carving one out with my god-damned teeth! But dammit, it wasn't my fault! It wasn't… my… fault. God!

 **Scott stands suddenly and kicks over the chair, clattering in the darkness.**

Damn him. Damn him… Damn it. Dammit. Dammit…

 **After taking several deep breaths, Scott finds the chair and puts it back at the desk before sitting down.**

After Harper found me and patched me up, she hauled me down to med-bay for the doctors to look me over. Then Harry showed up and gave me a piece of his mind and, long story very short, I've got a counseling session scheduled with Doctor T'Perro tomorrow, on top of everything else.

SAM, **end recording.** Goodnight.

 _{Goodnight Pathfinder. Logging you out.}_

…

 **Addendum: Hyperion Med-bay 03.**

…

 **Harper: "Medic!"**

 **Doctor Carlyle: "My God! What happened this time?"**

 **Scott Ryder: "I ran into a bulkhead."**

 **Harper lays Scott out on table, while Doctor Carlyle activates the inbuilt medical scanner.**

 **Carlyle: "A bulkhead gave you a broken nose, multiple contusions on both arms, and over-extended your biotic nodes?"**

 **Scott: "Yeah, pretty much."**

 **Carlyle: "Ugh…" Carlyle sighs in disgust and taps out a command, shutting down the scanner and pulling out an auto-suture instrument from a nearby drawer. "Thank you, Lieutenant. I'll handle things from here. You may go. Scott, sit up."**

 **Harper: "Thanks Doctor. Ryder: I'll be close by if you need me." Harper turns and leaves the med-bay.**

 **Doctor Carlyle begins to suture the cut on Scott's head. Carlyle: "Okay Scott: what really happened?"**

 **Scott: "I told you already-Ow!"**

 **Carlyle: "SAM: what happened? How did your Pathfinder get like this?"**

 **Scott: "You leave SAM out of this-Hey! Gah! I went to see Dad, okay!"**

 **Carlyle: "And what happened then? Did you discover another saboteur? Or did you get drunk off your ass and biotically surfed a table into a wall? There, that's done." Doctor Carlyle pulls the auto-suture away from Scott's closed cut and applies a band of medigel across the wound. Carlyle: "Don't touch that for at least four hours. If it itches, don't scratch! That's a good sign. It means it's healing."**

 **Scott: "How did you know I was drunk last night?"**

 **Carlyle: "You obviously haven't seen the recent social media yet. To hear the rumors, half the station was in Vortex last night when you had your little "biotic bender". The video showing you Lifting a table and surfing on it across the room into the stage is quite popular."**

 **Scott: "Oh jeez…"**

 **Carlyle: "Indeed. And if half the station wasn't there last night, half the station** _ **has**_ **been through the Vortex by now, just to get a look at the new flag. Rumor has it that Director Tann is furious, by the way."**

 **Scott: "Oh, cry me a river-"**

 **Carlyle: "Now, given that no one was dragged in with you, there is no general alarm about an attack, and because I can find none of the alcohol concentrations in your blood or tissues to indicate you have been drinking…** _ **what happened?"**_

 **Scott grinds his teeth and closes his fists on the edges of the table. Scott: "I went… to see…** _ **my father**_ **."**

 **Carlyle purses his lips. Carlyle: "Lie back. I'm going to give you a general anesthetic to numb the pain while I fix your nose and hands. I'll leave the bruises on your arms to heal on their own, but you've got several stress fractures in your finger-and-wrist-bones that are going to take some careful regeneration to fix. This should only take a few minutes."**

 **Doctor Carlyle extracts a hypo-spray from a nearby drawer, carefully measures out a dose of anesthetic, before administering the drug to the skin of Scott's neck. The anesthetic immediately begins to work, and Scott falls into the depths of a light sleep.**

 **Carlyle: "SAM, monitor his condition. This should be fairly routine, but I don't want to take a chance on any surprises."**

 **SAM: "Of you wish, Doctor."**

 **The surgery proceeds quickly. After inserting a breathing tube, Doctor Carlyle activates the medical-bay's onboard VI to handle the actual surgery. Mechanical arms extend, slotting the instruments into place while Carlyle monitors the process. Soft breathing tubes insert into the nasal cavities, both to facilitate air and all the nostrils to retain their proper shape. Slight incisions are made to the skin around the nasal bone, carefully loosening up the tissues. Tiny paddles align the nasal bones back into place, form-fitting around the breathing tubes, before microscopic lasers seal and suture the bone breaks. Finally, medigel is applied across the site, and the breathing tubes are removed.**

 **Doctor Carlyle tapes a bandage in place over Scott's nose after injecting an anti-inflamation drug to prevent over-swelling of the tissues before turning to deal with his damaged hands. Carlyle tapes out another command on the tables VI, activating a pair of bone regeneration units and sliding them around Scott's scabbed and flaccid hands.**

 **Carlyle: "Alright SAM. While he's out, will you please tell me what happened to him?"**

 **SAM: "He wanted to see Alec. I advised against it, but Scott insisted. He was… upset."**

 **Carlyle: "I see. Is this the first time he's had an outburst like this?"**

 **SAM: "I am not a blabbermouth, Doctor. Or a gossip. If you want to know more, you should ask the Pathfinder directly."**

 **Carlyle: "SAM…"**

 **SAM: "Yes Doctor?"**

 **Doctor Carlyle sighs but says no more until the regeneration units have completed their work. He removes the units, and then injects Scott with another compound to awaken him.**

 **Carlyle: "Alright Scott, that's all for now. Just let me put some bandages on those hands and you'll be out of here."**

 **Carlyle pulls out a roll of thin flex-bandages and tape from a near-by drawer, and begins wrapping Scott's hands.**

 **Carlyle: "Scott… have you been having… nightmares? Trouble sleeping?"**

 **Scott: "Has SAM been talking to you?"**

 **Carlyle: "Scott, I really think you should take some time and talk to someone."**

 **Scott: "I told you Doc, I don't have the time, and if anyone found out-"**

 **Carlyle: "If anyone found out than it would be perfectly natural, considering everything you've been through in the past few weeks."**

 **Scott: "Harry, what about the last few weeks has been "natural" to you. And besides, anyone who might be able to help me is probably already swamped trying to keep an entire station from simply floating off in a red haze of anxiety and paranoia."**

 **Carlyle: "What about Doctor T'Perro? She's certainly qualified, and its part of her status as Pathfinder's Medic."**

 **Scott: "You want me… to talk about my** _ **feelings**_ **… with the** _ **Corpse Cutter**_ **?"**

 **Carlyle: "The… what?"**

 **SAM: "Doctor T'Perro set up a makeshift morgue and dissection laboratory while on Eos in order to study the kett."**

 **Carlyle: "Ah. Yes, well- Doctor T'Perro is extremely thorough. And I have read the reports she sent from Eos and… that isn't what's important right now!"**

 **Scott: "Sorry Harry, but someone who makes a point of poking around in other creature's guts when they hove other things like scanners and simulators, just sends all the wrong signals, you know."**

 **Carlyle: "And poking around in caves and forests when one has holo-vids and stories is so antithetical."**

 **Scott: "Harry… ugh."**

 **Carlyle: "SAM, please send a message to Doctor T'Perro? The Pathfinder is in need of a private counseling session at the earliest opportunity."**

 **SAM: "As you wish, Doctor. Pathfinder?"**

 **Scott: "Don't see how I can get out of it."**

 **Carlyle: "Alright then, that's settled. And I'm all done."**

 **Scott: "Thanks' Doc. For everything."** _ **{Scott's tone indicates' he is speaking sarcastically.}**_

 **Scott gets off the table and exits the medical bay. Doctor Carlyle watches him as he leaves until the door slides shut.**

 **Carlyle: "SAM, watch out for him, please. He's all we've got, and right now… I'd say he's the best we've got."**

 **SAM: "Of course, Doctor."**

 _ **{End Addendum.}**_

…

 **Author's Note: Apologies for the slow down everyone. I'm developing and writing this story as it comes, not to any particular plan. We'll get off to Aya soon, I promise. Also, writing dialogue sucks.**

 **Right now, the vote 3-0 in favor of Havaarl. Should be interesting.**


	22. Chapter 22

**Thoughts from Andromeda part 22**

By ElementalsAdvocate

…

 **Year 2819, Andromeda Galaxy, Heleus Cluster, The Nexus, Habitat Ring, Docking Pad 16, The Tempest, Pathfinders Cabin**

…

 **Scott walks into the cabin, dressed in a set of technicians light overalls and a tool belt. He immediately starts to strip out of the overalls.**

SAM, **start recording**. I want to get my thoughts and observations down while they're still fresh in my head.

 _{You may begin, Pathfinder.}_

Well, I got a real work-out today. Man- **Scott massages one shoulder, stretching in several directions before settling down at the desk.** I spent two weeks running around a radioactive desert, fighting off kett, Remnant, and the native wildlife, and I'm this worn out after only a few days back on station. Kesh put me working under one of her supervisors, a salarian called Kadron Nessel, and she just about worked me into the decking. We went all over the station today.

Okay, start from the beginning Scott.

Kesh had a chance to look at some of my work from the other day, when I took over the maintenance work for a couple of her engineering teams so they could design and cast the Hyperion Bell. Well, today, Kesh got back to me, and while she was satisfied with my work, she wanted SAM's help on a few particular projects, and she wasn't going to let a near-amateur like me near anything important. So, to save a lot of time and effort, Kesh put me under Kadron Nessel, a salarian with a list of degrees as long as her arm, and when you're talking about salarians, that's pretty damn long. I should know, since she had cause to regale me with the list over the course of today, and watch her work.

Back in the Milky Way, I never got to see the Nexus before I was put into cryo sleep. Today, I got a much better sense of what the station's like, and what it's gone through since the Scourge disaster.

The original plan in the Milky Way was to build only part of the Nexus back in the Milky Way, then complete the rest of the station upon arrival in the Heleus Cluster. Fourteen months after arrival and the station is still nowhere near finished.

The Nexus is built in four primary sections: The two Wards, Upper and Lower, The Docking/Habitat Ring, and The Rod. The Wards are designed like the wards on the Citadel, enormous curved sheets of dense metals, plain on the convex side, protecting stations and buildings on the concave side. Of course, the Nexus Wards are nowhere near as big as the Citadel Wards; just over fifteen kilometers long and three across at the widest point, compared to the fifty kilometer long arms of the Citadel. The Ring and the Rod connect the Upper and Lower Wards together, with the Ring connecting along the central axis of the Wards. The Rod crosses the diameter of the Ring, like the spoke on a wheel, and carries most of the material between the Wards. The Rod is also where the Arks are supposed to dock with the station, and disgorge their passengers and their power for the station's use. The Ring is where, hopefully, most ships will dock, and where most of the people still on the Nexus are living now.

When the Nexus left the Milky Way, it was only the Upper Ward that crossed dark space with the Arks. The Ward was built around a much larger version of the ODSY drive that powers the Arks and the Tempest Combined with powerful mass effect shield generators designed from those protecting the Citadel, and 8 massive fusion reactors, allowed the fifteen kilometer plus long station to travel between the two galaxies without risking being torn apart by the cumbersome ring or a second Ward. The plan was for the Ring, the Rod, and the Lower Ward to be built on arrival in Andromeda, making use of the local resources of the Heleus Cluster, and have everything set up before the Arks arrival.

Well, all of that went out the window with a side-order of smashed by a free-falling dreadnought when the Nexus ran headfirst into that first clump of Scourge. It was only the leaders awake when it happened, and almost all of them were killed in the first few minutes. SAM was able to piece some of the original recordings together and it was… not pretty. Imagine being stuck inside of a can that's getting shaken while hundreds of fireworks go off around you at the same time.

Long story short, after the Nexus personnel pulled themselves back to their feet, they had to go around and start fixing the station as best they could with whatever they could find. A lot of the less essential systems and amenities were cannibalized to keep the station alive. A reactor core had to be ejected and towed away from the station in order to keep a catastrophic overload from taking out a third of the Ward. A lot of crazy hard engineering and jury-rigging went into saving the Nexus. Lots of people made a lot of sacrifices in order to save the Station. Not that it was enough to save the Initiative from Director Tann's inexperience. But that's another story.

After the mutiny, Tann kept everyone going by "sticking to the original plan of the Initiative": complete the Nexus, and wait for the Arks and the Pathfinders to show up. Without any supply chains to draw from, and with all the planetoids in range being either naturally uninhabitable or ravaged by the Scourge to the point of un-inhabitability, the Initiative had to make do. Once the Upper Ward got to the Zheng He system and into the relative safety of the Ma Huan gas giant, away from any Scourge strands, construction on the rest of the station began. Mainly using jury-rigged mining drones, the Initiative mined tons of iron and other metals from Fei Xin, a nearby planet that's volcanically active right now. Smelting and shaping the metals took place on the Nexus, and then more drones operated from within the station began construction from there.

That went on for about six months, while two different attempts were launched to colonize Eos, with Site 1 and Site 2, Promise and Resilience. When the outposts failed, food and power shortages forced the Initiative to suspend construction efforts in favor of trying to keep the lights on and keeping their bellies full. Can't blame them for keeping priorities straight on that score.

At the time they stopped construction, Kesh and her engineers had managed to complete the Rod, most of the Anchorage Ring, and the superstructure of the Lower Ward. However, they hadn't been able to find the raw materials to repair the reactors

Tann moved everyone he could out of the Upper Ward and into the Arcology section of the Ring. Lots of manufactured fields and terraces for growing things: trees, plants, and shrubs, providing the station with food, clean air, and some comfort from looking out across green fields, even if it is contained by white metal walls and no real sky. Kesh also saw to shutting down or closing off the inefficient and broken areas of the Upper Ward to save power. But even with those measures, without access to more He3 to keep the fusion reactors going, power reserves just kept falling until only the Ring and the shield generators had any real juice running to them.

Now with the power from the Hyperion, they've started reopening a bunch of areas in the Upper Ward. Trying to set things up to bring more people out of cryo-stasis, trying to patch things up as they go, and hopefully, sometime in the distant future, bring the whole station back to life.

Today, Nessel's project was to assess one of the primary reactors in the Upper Ward for any leftover damage from the Scourge, and get everything ready to bring the reactor online once – no, _if,_ we can get a steady supply of He3 to fuel the reactor. Right now most of the stations fuel comes from a small jury-rigged refining station built behind the ram-scoops on the bow, which collect the helium vapors we catch from Ma Huan. Obviously with a station this size, we can't get any closer to the planet to catch more helium without sending the Nexus to her doom. Nessel mentioned plans to build a proper gathering and refining station closer to the planet, but that's far in the future.

Right now the Nexus has a total of seven fusion reactors; after the Scourge Disaster, a reactor core had to be ejected and towed away from the station to prevent an overload from taking out half the Ward. Until someone can find the time and materials to build some new cores… heh, guess that's me… seven reactors is all we're going to have, not counting the Hyperion power core.

I learned a lot today. Nessel mainly had me carrying her tools around and providing her with real time access to SAM scans while she inspected the reactor. She this strange habit of… singing equations and lessons under her breath, some kind of mnemonic I guess. I don't understand all the specifics and high end physics but, basically, in a fusion reactor, molecules are made to collide under extreme heat and magnetic pressure, forming new, larger molecules. The reaction creates more heat, which transfers to nearby steam pipes, which turn gigantic electrical generators which in turn provide power for the station. And the nice thing is, if the reactor runs out of fuel, it should just turn itself off without the radioactive mess that they used to have with fission reactors.

At least, that's how it should be. Our reactors are just a _little_ more complex than that. And when you throw the Mass Effect into the mix, the complexity factor goes through the roof.

That's partly why the reactor core overloaded and why it had to be ejected. With the Nexus in shambles, a lot of systems were malfunctioning and shunting power around out of all proportion or planning. The charge around the core overloaded with static build up, and when it cut loose… well, if it had still been connected to the station, the least it would have caused is an EMP large enough to knock out every light for ten kilometers around, and probably would have knocked out three more reactors. At worst, it might have created a singularity that would have torn the station from stem to stern.

Speaking as a biotic, I know what over-charged eezo can do.

Anyway, between Nessel's team of technicians and engineers, my scans, and SAM taking care of the analysis, we should be able to finish the maintenance exam by tomorrow. If we're lucky, they'll clear the reactor as ready for service by the time I get back from my next mission.

God, I hope so.

Ugh, there's just so much to do. We need reactor parts, and the metals and materials to build them. We need a refinery for He3 to fuel our reactors and our shuttles. We need to find eezo to build kinetic barriers and transports. And we need water, tons of it, for a hundred and one other things; not least of which is keeping our crops on the Nexus watered, and the people for that matter. And it all needs to get done _now_. And all before Remembrance Day…

Fuck, now I'm saying it too. The Inestimable Director Tann made a broadcast this morning, outlining the plans for a "holiday", calling it "a day of remembrance and meditation upon the struggles we have faced thus far, to be marked by the transference of the Hyperion spirit bell to the Nexus." Just saying it out loud makes me want to choke the conniving, bureaucratic twit to within an inch of his life. Apparently a spirit bell is something important in both the salarians Wheel philosophies and the turian Spirit venerations, so he's going to earn points with those crowds for this wrinkle. And we weren't going to transfer the bell to the Nexus until _after_ the park had been set up for it. What the hell is going through that sly frogs mind-

 _{Pathfinder. Apologies, but your appointment with Doctor T'Perro is in ten minutes.}_

Son-of a bitch… Okay SAM. **End recording.** And please… don't butt in.

 _{As you wish Pathfinder. Logging you out.}_

…

 **Authors Note:**

 **And that is 22, and it was a beast. This is my first attempt at throwing some real science into the mix. I know in Andromeda, Ryder is shown to be not as… knowledgeable, shall we say, as Commander Shepard when it comes to hard sciences. But Ryder does have a habit of picking odd things up on the fly, and I do like to keep up on the progress in fusion science and application.**

 **Please let me know your thoughts and comments about the design of the Nexus. It took a lot of trawling through images to try and come up with some kind of comprehensive description on the Nexus construction at this time. Especially the number of reactors on the Nexus has available. I settled on 8 because I noticed a total of 8 large black squares spaced across the Nexus during the Nexus and Ark Initiative Trailers. It seems to fit.**

 **I recently read** _ **Nexus Uprising**_ **by Jason Hough and K.C. Alexander, a companion piece to Mass Effect: Andromeda. It's actually a pretty good story, and gave a lot of good description of the sort of environment the Nexus is and its effect upon the people within during and after the Scourge disaster. Not a lot of specifics; no maps or anything like that. But still, it gave an excellent description of the kind of balancing act that might take place in a space station if a catastrophic disaster should take place, trying to balance the needs of the people on board against the needs of the station and its abilities to provide for the people.**

 **Reading the book was how I found out about the trouble with the reactor, and about how the Nexus was forced to eject it before the core overloaded. It made me wonder as to why they would be worrying about a fusion reactor overloading when a fusion reactor is supposed to be safer than fission. My answer: Mass Effect. It feels like a cop out, so please help me out? Any suggestions or questions would be appreciated.**

 **As always; read, review, and enjoy!**


	23. Chapter 23

Thoughts from Andromeda part 23

By ElementalsAdvocate

…

 **Year 2819, Andromeda Galaxy, Heleus Cluster, The Nexus, Habitat Ring, Docking Pad 16, The Tempest, Pathfinders Cabin**

…

 _ **Scott walks into the Pathfinders Cabin, takes off his jacket and tosses it onto the couch. His eyes are [distant? Unfocused?] and his motions appear distracted. He walks over to the starboard side of the cabin and sits down at the desk.**_

SAM?

 _{Yes Pathfinder.}_

Bring up the video logs from the medical bay. Show me the conversation with Doctor – I mean, Lexi.

 _{As you wish, Pathfinder. The relevant log is on your console.}_

…

 **Doctor T'Perro: Pathfinder. Please, sit down, unless you'd prefer we do this in your cabin?**

 **Scott: No, this is fine Doctor T'Perro, thank you." Scott sits down in the chair offered.**

 **T'Perro: "Please, call me Lexi. There's no need for formalities among friends."**

 **Scott: "I wouldn't go quite that far… But okay."**

 **T'Perro: "Now, why don't we start with why you're here? SAM wasn't specific."**

 **Scott: "Great. Well, what did Harry tell you?"**

 **T'Perro: "He did send me an update for your medical records: A broken nose and fractured hands, symptoms typically seen in individuals who've been in a fist fight. Were you in a fist fight?"**

 **Scott: "No. Ugh… Look, you know that SAM and I are linked right? Typical Pathfinder thing?"**

 **T'Perro: "Yes. I am also aware that the link between a Pathfinder and their SAM is more intimate than at first meets the eye, and far more intimate than that allowed by Citadel law."**

 **Scott: "Well… did you also know that SAM can record memories, because of the link?"**

 **Lexi: "No, but it doesn't surprise me. I'm still reading up on the specifics. The SAM's develop via the Pathfinder's experiences, incorporating that experience directly.**

 **Scott: "Yeah well, apparently they can also access, record, and store past memories, memories of things that occurred before the… transfer, and can project them into a current pathfinders senses."**

 _ **Doctor T'Perro sits absolutely still for several seconds, apparently processing the information why dealing with incredulity and fascination.**_ **T'Perro: "That's… incredible. But how...? Of course! Alec Ryder, you mad f-"**

 _ **T'Perro stops herself before she can finish the sentence when she sees the expression on Scotts face. The lips thinned, brows scrunched together towards the nose, eyes staring straight ahead, jaw muscles tightening and teeth grinding together, heartrate and perspiration increasing, signs of suppressed anger.**_

 **Lexi: "I see. And I assume that there is no way to turn it off? SAM?"**

 **SAM:** _ **{"No, Doctor T'Perro. While it is possible for me to lower or increase the amount of focus I have upon my Pathfinder at any one time, it is impossible for me to remove myself from Scott's functions to the level of the other Pathfinders SAM's."}**_

 **T'Perro: "I see."**

 _ **Doctor T'Perro crosses her legs, folds her hands in her lap, closes her eyes, and sighs through her nose, apparently composing herself.**_ **T'Perro: "Leaving that aside for now, what about these memories caused you to seek my care?**

 **Scott: "When Dad died, he blocked off parts of SAM's memories. Things he didn't want me to see."**

 **T'Perro: "Or he thought you weren't ready for."**

 **Scott: "Maybe. I found this… trigger. It unlocked a… memory fragment of Dad on the Citadel. From when the Alliance rejected his ideas about AI. And he found out that Mom's illness was terminal."**

 **T'Perro: "Why do you think your father chose this specific memory?"**

 **Scott: "I don't know! It's not like I was suddenly flooded with all Dad's other memories. Hell! That would have been an improvement. Maybe then I would know how to deal with all this shit. Like Nilken being an attempted murderer, or the saboteur, or Tann being an ass-wipe- Gah!" Scott covers his mouth with one hand.**

 **T'Perro: "And what happened after you saw this memory?"**

 **Scott: "I… went to see Dad. And when I saw him, I… lost my temper."**

 **T'Perro: "Scott… anger is a natural part of the grieving process. It's alright-"**

 **Scott: "Don't! Don't tell me what I should be feeling, or not feeling doctor. I know I've got problems, but I don't have time to break down in tears for days. If I'd just paid more attention, or been more careful somehow, maybe I wouldn't be in this mess—but I am, and theres nothing you, or anyone on this whole fucking station can do about it, short of putting bullet in my brain-pan. The only thing that helps is work, and that's what I'm doing. So just… leave it alone."**

 **T'Perro:** _ **[Sighs]**_ **"Very well. Are you feeling any pain from your incident yesterday? Your nose or your hands?"**

 **Scott: "No."**

 **T'Perro: "Are you still taking sleep aids?"**

 **Scott: "Yeah. They helped for a while after Eos, but ever since we came back to the station, my nightmares have gotten worse."**

 **T'Perro: "I would prefer not to proscribe you anything stronger. The stores on the Hyperion are still stocked for now, but with the needs of the Nexus…"**

 **Scott: "Well, I could always see about setting up a tab over at the Vortex Lounge and getting some of their product. The Lucky Leprechaun packs a pretty good punch."**

 **T'Perro: "For the record, I do not approve of drinking oneself into a stupor."**

 **Scott: "Well, it's that or SAM knocks me out completely."**

 **T'Perro: "You- SAM… knocks you out?"**

 **Scott: "He doesn't like to. He prefers that I try the sleep aids or exercise first. But if I don't work myself to exhaustion, the nightmares just get worse.**

 **T'Perro: "I see. In that case, I can suggest a number of different exercises that should help-"**

 **Scott: "Please, Lexi, no more yoga poses! I am not an asari. I do** _ **not**_ **bend that way."**

 _ **Lexi's lips thin.**_ **T'Perro: "-if you would let me finish; there are any number of methods one can use to cope with and reduce stress, of which exercise is only one. Do you have any hobbies? Besides exercising?**

 **Scott: "I used to collect rocks with my sister when I was a kid."**

 **T'Perro: "Why did you stop?"**

 **Scott: "My mother was ill, my father was absent, and my sister needed me watching her back at school. After we graduated and joined the Alliance, I didn't exactly have a lot of opportunities to go rock hunting."**

 **T'Perro: "Why would your sister need you to watch out for her? If what I've read and seen is anything to go by, I don't see either of you having any trouble."**

 **Scott: "Simple. We were the only biotics in a school full of Alliance brats. We had to watch out for each other. Self-preservation."**

 _ **Lexi blinks in surprise.**_ **T'Perro: "I… see. You've given me a lot to think about. In any event, try and find something to do that isn't work-related. Take up meditation, listen to music, visit the hydroponics gardens, or take up rock collecting again, once we're visiting planets again. I'll message you with more suggestions later. Is there anything else?"**

 **Scott: "No."**

 **T'Perro: "Very well. I'll be here if you need anything else."**

 **Scott: "Yeah. Thanks Lexi."**

 _ **Scott stands and exits the medical bay. Lexi makes a number of notations on a pad with a stylus, before standing up and walking to the door, sending a command from her omni-tool to lock it.**_

 **T'Perro: "SAM. We need to** _ **talk**_ **."**

 **-{End log.}-**

…

Hey, why'd you stop it?

 _{Doctor-patient confidentiality. That is the correct phrase, I believe.}_

Didn't want me to hear Lexi chewing you out hunh? Okay, it's cool.

 _{Doctor T'Perro did have a number of cogent points that may provide ease.}_

You mean the hobbies? Or meditation? I've never been a real zen kind of guy, SAM. Still… I wonder. Did Dad have any hobbies?

 _{I remember little from the time during my construction, as your father did not take me out of his lab, and many of his memories remain blocked. However, I am aware that Alec did have active interests in astronomy, hiking, and rock-climbing.}_

And how do you know that?

{Alec linked with me approximately one year before the Hyperion left Luna orbit to travel to Andromeda. During that time, whenever he was on Earth, he would make a point of traveling to the Sierra Nevada Mountains in south-eastern North America to take part in the activities I have already mentioned. During those times, he would experiment with the enhanced abilities provided by our link.}

A year before we left? That would have been about the same time that Mom died. Hunh. I wondered what happened to him after the memorial service. I just figured that he buried himself in his work and pulled the paper in on top of him… Say- what about that model of the Normandy I found in his quarters on the Hyperion? What's the story behind that?

{Again, it was an experiment in our abilities. Alec wanted to know how acute his senses, reflexes, and motor control could become under the influence of the link. He purchased the model in order to test the link.}

But why the SR-1? Why not some other model?

{Unknown.}

Maybe… Dad had those journals by Lewis and Clark. I guess Commander Shepard was another Pathfinder of sorts, and an N7 at that. Maybe… I did see some model kits for sale at the General Store here on the Nexus. Maybe… Ugh. _**Scott rubs one hand over his eyes.**_

I'm just too tired to think about this right now. We're leaving the Nexus in less than two days, and we've still got a lot of work to do. Good night SAM. I'll get the lights.

 _{Good night Scott. Logging you out.}_

…

 **Authors Note: Apologies for the late update, my faithful fans. This chapter went through several transformations and iterations before I had to settle for this. What I developed will come up in the next few chapters before we head to Aya.**

 **This arc on the Nexus has grown into something much bigger than I expected when I first began. This is chiefly because I found myself delving more and more into the backstory of Ryder, and with the absence of anything substantial in canon, I've had to make a lot up. Developing Scott grieving process has been a challenge, and frankly, I don't expect it to get any easier. But hey, fanfiction is a labor of love to begin with, so why not.**

 **Also, I know that in-game, it's the Normandy SR-2 we find in Alec's Quarters, not the SR-1. However, according to time-line and canon, the Hyperion left the Milky Way Galaxy before the events of Mass Effect 2, and the SR-2 didn't gain notoriety until after Shepard came back from the dead. So I tweaked things a little.**

 **As always: read, review, and enjoy.**


	24. Chapter 24

**Thoughts from Andromeda part 24**

By ElementalsAdvocate

…

 **Year 2819, 1 day before Remembrance Day. Andromeda Galaxy, Heleus Cluster, The Nexus, Habitat Ring, Docking Pad 16, The Tempest, Pathfinders Cabin.**

…

SAM, **start recording.**

Well, it's been a hell of a day, and all before Remembrance Day. Spent the morning poking around in a reactor with Nessel and her team again. Still got one of her little rhymes stuck in my head: "Connect the rack to the arva nodes; take great care or it explodes." Heh. Not particularly reassuring, but it worked for her.

Anyway, in the afternoon, Kallo, Gil, and Suvi needed to run some tests on the Tempest, and they needed my help as Pathfinder. There's a Pathfinders Console here in my cabin, and I can direct the Tempests path from the comfort of my own quarters, or in an emergency if need be. However, when we left the Nexus for Eos, there wasn't time to properly calibrate the Pathfinder Cabin's Console.

Anyway, the reason we were out and about was for tests on the Tempest performance, and it almost didn't happen. Gil wanted to find out how the Tempest drive core would react in close proximity to the Scourge. Kallo didn't want to damage the Tempest by bringing it anywhere near the Scourge. Gil said it could be only a small strand, somewhere in the system. Kallo refused. I think the whole thing might have devolved into a fist fight if Suvi and I hadn't weighed in and cooled things off.

So, we headed off into the system to find some Scourge. I spent the trip right here in this cabin, just kind of… observing the galaxy around us through the Console. Basically, the Pathfinder's Console allows me, via SAM, to interface directly with the Tempest, uploading and processing information from the ships sensors at a rate that beggars the mind. In a way, it brings me closer to what SAM experiences as an AI, capable of connecting across the light-years via QEC between the Nexus, the Tempest, and SAM Node on the Hyperion.

Anyway, the upshot is that the connection allows me to gather more information about the world around the Tempest, process it via SAM Node and the Nexus data-banks, and make decisions more quickly and more efficiently while the Tempest is in flight. But the actual experience… its like… well, for example:

Our first destination in the system was the planet Fei Xin, first planet in the solar system. It's in the middle of some pretty serious tectonic activity right now, and the Nexus draws most of its raw iron from the planet. The Scourge seems to be attracted to ships, and there were reports from the Nexus mining drones and shuttles of occasional contact with the Scourge around the planet. Not enough to stop operations, but enough to make people jumpy. We didn't find any Scourge, but I found… something else.

I was tapped into the Pathfinders console and… it was like I was feeling the universe around me. The void was cold, and I had all these impressions and images of what the cold was like. Beneath the cold shell of the Tempest, I could, well, feel the ship around me and somehow… a _part_ of me. If I concentrated, I could feel all the different spaces on the Tempest; the cockpit with all the busy purpose of a beehive, sending instructions to the nacelles in the rear, flexing, burning fingers point back the way we'd come. I could taste the movement of air around the ship, drawn through the bio-lab, refreshed by the plants and ferns Cora took care of, and how they in turn were growing. I could hear and feel the Tempests drive core all the way aft, humming away, and feel the exact moment that Gil made an adjustment to the field bands. And that was just what I could feel inside the ship. Outside though… it was the same but, not. I could feel the cold of the void, but I didn't mind it. And somehow, I could feel theAnd beyond, I felt the planets, each individual planets in the system, and the sun, all together, and I could feel the asteroid belt and and and well, everything. And, I also felt the moment when the biggest supervolcano on Fei Xin went off like a grenade, making the planets atmosphere bulge from the blast.

After we came back to Earth, there was a time when Dad took the four of us on hiking trips to all the great national parks in North America. I remember one park, Yosemite, where we got to see a Geyser called Old Faithful. We couldn't get too close, but as close as we were I could still feel the tension beneath my feet just before the Geyser erupted. At Fei Xin… I felt the volcano explode, saw it over and overlaid by holographic sensors, seeing the individual strands of strata rising out of the depths, the varying temperatures, the forces at work…

Damn it! I know I'm not giving the experience full justice, but that's the only way I've got to describe it. And it was just so god-damn _beautiful_.

Long story very short, I had Kallo make a few passes over the volcano, and drop in a probe for good measure, getting lots of pictures and recordings, and sending everything back in real time to the Nexus, to every open channel possible. I just… wanted everyone to know that even if there was a lot of terrible stuff in Heleus, there was beauty there too.

We poked around for a Scourge strand large enough for our purposes, but we never found one. We were about to head for the asteroid belt, when I detected something strange in the vicinity of H-599, the third planet in the system. So we packed up and headed back the way we came.

H-599 is a small planet, with large distinctive rings that make it easy to identify even at interstellar distances. Kallo mentioned that the Nexus shuttle pilots use "making a 99" as slang for making an arduous and testing voyage.

What I detected was kind of like the sound you get when you slowly and carefully roll a marble around a china plate. You can hear and feel the movement, slow chinking and tinkling of glass against ceramic. Once we got there, it wasn't difficult to find… and once we did, all thoughts of hunting down Scourge went right out of our heads.

It was a ship. An alien ship. Not Nexus, or kett, or Remnant, but definitely a ship of definitely unknown alien origin. It was stuck in "99s oribit, drifting along and tumbling slightly. Burn makrs covered the outer hull, and gas was leaking from the rear, but it was still mostly intact.

Kallo was going to send a message for the folks on the Nexus to salvage the shuttle, but something in me, a kind of madness, made me stop him. This was our find, and I wanted to salvage the shuttle. We tried hailing the ship, but we got no response, and scans didn't find anything alive inside. The hull was punctured, and the inside was vacuum.

Gil helped me into my suit, Kallo brought us in right on top of the ship and I, tethered to the Tempest and towing a cable behind me, I took my first space-walk since basic training on Arcturus. And it was… glorious. The rush as I walked beyond the kinetic barriers keeping the atmosphere in the cargo bay from escaping into the void, seeing all those stars laid out before me, and the shuttle, less than a hundred feet away from me. Popping the magnetic locks on my boots, and feeling that first sensation of drifting, floating, moving away from the safety of the Tempest, and just trusting myself to the motion, and all the while, I kept hearing Newton's Laws of Gravity in my head: The same laws that made the mass effect, and Sir Issac Newton, the most dangerous son-of-a-bitch in the universe.

An object at rest will tend to stay at rest unless acted upon by an outside force.

An object in motion tends to stay in motion, unless acted upon by an outside force.

For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

Back in basic, the science sergeant drilled this into us as a way of making sure we had our aim was true, because once something is shot in space, it'll keep going until it runs into something. In my case, if I missed the alien ship, I'd keep going until I reached the end of my tether, which was about a kilometer long, and I'd need Gil to winch me back in, which would be embarrassing.

So, I stayed loose, keeping my movements slow, controlled, and deliberate. Admittedly, I could have just shot right across using my jump jets, but after being cooped up on the station for a week, and everything else that happened, I just wanted to focus everything I had on the moment; Just me and the goal, pitting my brain and my body against everything reality could throw at me.

It felt like an eternity, but really it was less than five minutes before I touched down on the ships side and locked down my boots. Took a bit of work, but I got the spin under control with my biotics (with some guidance from SAM) and tethered the ship to the Tempest.

It took us two hours to tow the alien ship back to the Nexus. We stowed it away in one of the shuttle bays on the Hyperion. That way, fewer people could come to gawk or poke at it. Tann wanted to drag another engineering crew up to take it apart, but Kesh wouldn't have any of it. We were supposed to be having a holiday, not make more work for her people (for which she gave me a baleful glare, but I'm pretty sure it was just her joke.)

So, Kesh and my team spent the last three hours poring over the alien ship. Its definitely not kett or Remnant. It's all smooth contours and rounded edges on the outside, kind of like asari or salarians ships. It's small; bigger than a Kodiak shuttle, but smaller than a cutter. The damage it took is consistent with both Scourge scour and kett plasma weaponry. Once we got inside, we didn't find much. Which is weird, and kind of spooky. It looked like some pieces of tech were removed from the ship, including what should amount to the onboard VI, and most everything related to the passengers personal effects, unless they were ascetics. We found damage from kett small arms fire on the inside of the ship. So, as far as we know: the ship got hit by Scourge, and disabled. The kett found the ship and fired on it, and disabled it completely, before boarding it and attacking whoever was inside, taking everything and everyone within with them before kicking the ship off to drift into oblivion.

I did find one interesting thing though. There were several markings; paintings really, on the walls of the ship of sigils and glyphs, very similar to the Remnant language, though there are subtle differences between the sigils on the ship and the ones we found in the Eos vault.

Does this mean that whoever was in charge of the ship was a descendant of the Remnant builders? Or a species that copied the Remnant tech and script?

Damn I'm tired. I really need to stop doing this shit. Leave it up to Peebee and the other science buffs who obsess over this kind of thing. But still. Today, I felt more alive than I have in a while.

Gah, I need to stop. Remembrance Day starts tomorrow at noon, and I am required to attend, and then, its off into the unknown again. I haven't even decided what I'm going to wear. Better get that done before I fall over. Adrenaline feels good while it lasts but its gives you a hell of a time afterward. Ugh.

 **SAM, end recording.**


	25. Chapter 25

**Thoughts from Andromeda part 25**

By ElementalsAdvocate

…

 **Year 2819, Remembrance Day. Andromeda Galaxy, Heleus Cluster, The Nexus, Habitat Ring, Docking Pad 16, The Tempest, Pathfinders Cabin.**

…

 _ **Scott enters the cabin, walking slowly across to lean against the rail of the Pathfinders Console, looking out the window across the trellises and trees of the Habitat Ring.**_

SAM, **start recording.**

Well, that's it. It's done and out of my hands now. Good riddance, and good luck, and peace to all the universe on this Day of Remembrance.

Fuck. Now, I'm doing it too.

SAM, **delete last sentence.** Thank you.

I honestly didn't expect what happened to happen. No, that's not true. I didn't know what would happen. But it wasn't what I expected. No sir.

We're scheduled to leave in the hour, so I'd better make this quick.

Woke up around 5 o'clock this morning, after I just about walked myself to exhaustion going back and forth across this cabin last night. Couldn't go back to sleep, so I stopped by the galley, made some coffee, and went outside to take in the Ring. Never actually went out at that time, so it was a new experience for me. Usually- I mean, usually for this visit, there's people all over the place in the Hab Ring, and especially up around the Docking and Shuttle Bays. But early like, it was quiet. No one at the immigration counters, no one in the gardens, no one on the balconies or verandas above me. Just the click, hum, and chirrup of machines in the distance, all around me. Heh. Reminds me of the time when Dad took me and Sara camping in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Waking up in the tent that morning to all that quiet. No metal, no false sky above, no metal beneath my feet.

Glorious.

I ended up staying out there in the Commons for hours, watching the station wake up. I saw a few early risers running along the promenades, a group of asari running between the houses and agricultural plots below me, a bunch of blue gazelles in white leotards bounding over and around spiky green veld. I heard a group of salarians technicians coming off of their shift, heading to bed or the cantina, talking in their rapid-fire jargon. I saw a turian, one of Kandros's security people, leading a group of militia volunteers in morning exercises.

Finally my stomach kicked me enough that I went out and found one of the cantinas and got some breakfast. I took it back out to one of the tables on the promenade to enjoy the rest of my first quiet morning on the Nexus. That's when the reporter found me. The same one who'd tried to get a statement from me back at the Vortex when I went on my biotic bender.

SAM?

 _{Accessing relevant audio log, Pathfinder.}_

…

 **T'Vessa: Excuse me, Pathfinder. Keri T'Vessa. We met before at Vortex.**

 **Scott: "Oh, yes. Of course. Please, sit down."**

 **T'Vessa: "Thank you. I'm glad I caught you when I did. I was going to your ship when I saw you up here. I hope you don't mind."**

 **Scott: "No, this is fine. So… you wanted an interview, right?**

 **T'Vessa: "Well, as much as I'd like to, I'll have to decline until a later date. I'm afraid I'm on deadline. Director Tann wants the documentary to air tonight after the initial ceremonies are completed. If I could just get a couple of questions, that would be great.**

 **Scott: "Well, alright. Fire away."**

 **T'Vessa turns on her shoulder-mounted camera. T'Vessa: "Now, as I said before, I want to the real deal, not gloss over the Initiatives problems with pretty words and pictures. I want the dirt and blood of our story, not the convenient fairy story that Tann wants. Let's start at home. Fourteen months, and the Nexus still isn't finished. Arks are missing. We have people in exile. By any standard, this wasn't the plan. Our leadership describes this as "anticipated issues." Would you agree?"**

 **Scott: "Well, I trained as an Alliance Marine before I joined the Initiative. I was never an officer, but a few words of wisdom filter down through the ranks. Such as "No plan truly survives first contact with the enemy." Or reality in this case. You can "anticipate" all you like, but you've no idea what will happen until you actually go out there and see what happens. So that means, in my mind at least, everybody needs to be prepared to step up, our leaders… and myself especially, to deal with the challenges when and as they occur."**

 **T'Vessa: "Alright. Now for activities abroad. Scientists are excited about the new outpost on Eos, though there are questions about how Prodromos will survive where Sites 1 and 2 failed. Your response?"**

 **Scott: "My team I surveyed Eos thoroughly, and we even managed to stop the storms. But more than that, we've learned from the mistakes made at Site 1 and 2. Prodromos is in a secure location, geologically and strategically. It's got an underground water-source, high-walls to protect it from future storms, and we also got missile turrets to keep away any marauding kett. Prodromos also has a few veterans from Site 1 and 2 to provide real-life experience of the worst Eos can throw at them. Believe me; Prodromos isn't going to fail any time soon. Pathfinder's promise on that.**

 **T'Vessa: "And on that note, we're off. I'm transmitting in micro-bursts due to bandwidth. I'll start editing right away. I'll have more questions later if you're free. Thanks again Pathfinder. You were great."**

 **Scott: "Um- thanks. You're welcome. Have a nice day."**

…

 _{End of audio log.}_

Well, wasn't nearly as bad as I thought. She ran off quick though. Must have been a pretty sharp deadline.

Anyway, after breakfast and the interview I came back to the Tempest to get ready for the Remembrance ceremony. We don't actually have uniforms in the Initiative, except for the white and light blue on everything. But, Tann only asked- heh, commanded, that we all turn up in Initiative gear. So, I made a few adjustments to my uniform to suit my mood for the occasion.

I once had a friend on Earth who was absolutely obsessed with color and the meanings that different cultures ascribe to them. For most humans, white symbolized purity and intellectual prowess, blue for dependability. But… I once had to read this ancient story about a man obsessed with hunting a white whale… Mody Dick, by Herman Melville. I couldn't stand reading it. It was too stuffy. So instead, I found an audio recording of the book, and ended up listening to the whole thing at least three times over. Roiling waves, raging and wild men, a titanic struggle between man and beast and the ocean… heady stuff for a sixteen year old.

But, mixed in with all the action and drama were intervals of… philosophy, science, and trying to understand things about the world around the writer. To the main character, to Ishmael, the color white was something more than the color of purity. It was the color of death. The fact that during Melvilles time and long before, people were wrapped in white shrouds after death. Many of the greatest predators of Earth were white: the great white shark, the polar bear, the white tigers and lions. Albino's of all kinds were considered somehow connected with the spirit world, that they are, not the abascense of color, or the transcendence, but the transparency; disappearing into the firmament, from the firmament…

Shit, I'm getting Shakespearian again. And maudlin. Gah.

Long story short, I went in black and white. I wanted to remember the dead. And I wanted to be different from all the rest who'd be turning up in white and blue. 3-D fabrication is really an amazing thing. The original design for the Initiative jacket didn't have any color or lapels. I added them. Made me feel more removed and alone, aloof from everything and everyone else somehow.

Most of the Tempests crew turned up for the Bell ceremony. It was held in the Hyperion's Commons, just behind the command deck and the cockpit. Took a bit of work, but we managed to pack almost three-hundred people from every species on the Nexus in there. T'Vessa was on hand nearby with her camera to record everything.

Tann opened things with a short, truncated speech, something all the other directors, especially Addison and Kesh had insisted upon.

Not that Tann should speak at all, but that if he had to speak, he should keep it short and to the point. Kesh told me two days ago, after our last meeting, that Tann was "inexperienced" when it came to making speeches. SAM did some digging, and found some examples.

I'll say, for the record, and not for publication, that calling Director Tann's speech-skills "inexperienced" is putting it in the kindest terms possible. Tann may be a bang-up accountant, and may be a willing and able Director, but he cannot work a crowd to save his life. His "Sacrifice" speech, three months after the Scourge disaster here on the Nexus, was supposed to convince people to go back into their pods to conserve resources. He ended up driving the Security Director at the time, Sloane Kelly, out of the room in less than two paragraphs, and afterwards, everyone emphatically refused to go back into their pods.

After Tann finished what I can only call a "mercifully short" speech, Captain Dunn stepped up and gave a speech of her own, about ships and bells and journeys and humanities history with all three. It was… well, I don't really remember all that much now, come to think about it. It felt important at the time, but now, all I can remember now is what I felt. Sad, but aware that the sadness was passing, that happiness was passing, that grief was passing, that pain was passing.

Heh, reminds me of a song.

Anyway, Captain Dunn finished up, and I came forward to ring Hyperion's Bell. Eighteen times all together: nine to ring out the old year, and everything that had we had endured, and nine for the year to come, with all our hopes and fears.

After I was finished, Captain Dunn dismissed everyone, and Remembrance Day holiday officially began. But for some reason, a bunch of people stayed behind, talking amongst themselves. When I tried to leave the commons, people kept stopping me to shake my hand, or wish me good luck, or thank me. For what? I don't know. I just stood up in front of everyone and rang the bell.

Now its time to go. And who knows when we'll be back.

SAM, **keep recording.**

 _ **Scott turns and exits the cabin, climbing a ladder to the Tempests upper deck and entering the cockpit. Kallo Jath as pilot and Doctor Suvi Anwar as science officer are already at their posts.**_

"Kallo, is everyone on board?"

"Yes, Pathfinder. Just got clearance to leave from Operations a minute ago."

"Good." _**Scott steps up to the Pathfinders Console and turns on the ship-wide intercom.**_

"Tempest, this is the Pathfinder. You all know why we're here, what we've got to do. A lot of people are counting on us to find them a home, and I for one have no intention of letting them down."

"On this… Day of Remembrance, I find myself remembering my Dad, Alec Ryder. He should be the one standing here, savoring this moment. Not me. I'm not the man my father was. I'm not a war hero. I'm not a scientist. I don't have years of experience or training under my belt. And you know something… that's alright."

"None of us expected to be where we are today. None of us know what's going to come when we leave the Nexus. But somehow, here we are, together. We're on a ship, a damn good ship. And we've got the stars. So long as we've that… I know that we can smack down anything that Heleus cares to throw at us. And… as Dad used to say, if we can't find a way to beat it, hell, we'll find a way to use it."

"Kallo, take us out. Suvi, cue Operations for departure. SAM, you reading us?"

 _{Uplink is good. Signal is strong and clear, Pathfinder.}_

"Excellent. In that case… Tempest! Let's see what we can find."

…

 **Authors Note: The song in question is Turn! Turn! Turn! by Pete Seeger. He was the original author and does a more sedate and contemplative rendition as opposed to the Byrds.**

 **And for those of you who noticed, yes. I did use Andersons words form ME3 Citadel DLC.**


	26. Chapter 26

**Thoughts from Andromeda part 26**

By ElementalsAdvocate

…

 **Year 2819. In transit from Zheng He System to {Unknown}. Tempest, Pathfinders Cabin. 0834 hrs.**

…

 _ **Scott walks into the cabin carrying a tray of food. He sets the tray on the coffee table before sitting down on the couch with sigh.**_

Finally, maybe I can get some peace and quiet. Galley's crazy first thing in the morning.

 _ **Scott scoops up some of the oatmeal and shoves it into his mouth. After chewing for several moments he swallows.**_

Ugh… six hundred years and this stuff is still inedible. Wish we had some cinnamon. I wonder if Drack might have some in his kit.

 _{Unknown. Scanning Drack's kitchen kit may provide answers.}_

Heh… actually, scratch that. Probably not the best idea to go poking around in the gear of someone with a shotgun straight out of "Night of the Krogan Undead."

 _ **Scott sighs.**_ Although… it might not be a bad idea to ask Drack if he has any suggestions on spicing up our MRE packs. Hopefully something local we can find anywhere in the cluster that isn't going to send half the crew into convulsions.

SAM, **start recording.** Maybe if I talk while I eat I can actually get this stuff down before Kallo needs me back on the bridge.

We left the Kallo stuck it out through the night, so Suvi took over the conn with me on the bridge while Kallo went to get a few hours of shut-eye. Since he's a Salarian, Kallo only needs a few hours of sleep every day. Still, he waited until he was sure we were in a pretty clear patch of space before he hit the sack. He cares.

It's been… interesting, working with a crew as varied as this. Back in the Milky Way, we all figured on working with aliens, but to the best of my knowledge, it was expected that each Pathfinder team would primarily stick to its own kind: humans with humans, asari with asari, and so on. Gah! Sara would probably whack me for that remark.

But it's true. And now, since the Initiative only has one scout ship, and after the beating the Hyperion's pathfinder team took on Habitat 7, our team needs the best, regardless of species or past plans.

So, the crew of the Tempest: first theres Kallo Jath, our pilot and navigator. Salarian, like Director Tann. But Kallo's much more likeable, or at least easier to get along with. He was a part of the team that originally designed and built the Tempest, so with his photographic memory, it's like he's constantly walking up and down Memory Lane with all his old friends. Which must be pretty sad, considering that the Tempest is the only ship of her class left anywhere, and the fact that none of his friends came with the Initiative to Andromeda…

Well, I hope I can help make him some more memories. Kallo's a good guy, for a salarian. He loves his job. Gets along well with just about everybody on board, especially Suvi Anwar, our defacto back-up pilot, and all around genius.

Suvi Anwar is our Science Officer and back-up pilot. She's human, about my age, Irish-Hindu origin, and… a little weird. She has this dreamy-droopy voice with an irish brogue that kind of dips down through your ear, like the sound you get blowing over the top of a long-necked bottle.

And smart. She's ridiculously smart. She's the same age as me and Sara, but Suvi's already got a list of doctorates as long as my arm. When I first came onboard the Tempest, Suvi sent me a 60 page document on Heleus soil samples she had researched and wrote herself, and she called it "barely more than a summary." And it was the abridged version! The full analysis took over 1400 pages! That she did herself! I can barely get through my Nexus reports on time, and she… phew. But she isn't an ass about it. She has this sort of… wide-eyed curiosity about the universe that seems to keep her humble. Which… kind of reminds me of Sara.

Damn.

Okay. Next is my Executive Officer; Lieutenant Cora Harper. Human, 26, former Alliance, former asari huntress, and a really strong biotic. The asari huntress part can be a little confusion since she's human, up until you find out that her biotics can rip through tank armor like paper. According to Cora, when the Systems Alliance found out how strong her biotics were, they signed her up for a Council-backed exchange program, and she ended up a part of an asari huntress team. Lots of missions all over the Milky Way Galaxy; rescue missions, assaults, sabotage, espionage, assassinations. Considering how many times she's saved my butt, thanks to the skills she learned while with the huntresses, I'm not going to comment.

Cora was… Dad's XO as well. And when Dad died, he passed over Cora to give the job to me. She was pretty frustrated about that. Well, no. She was definitely pissed off about that. First time I tried to talk to her when we first came onto the Tempest, she was so frustrated that she let loose with biotic assisted kick by accident, and sent a heavy crate skidding half-way across the hold. Not good.

But Harper seems to have settled down now. When she isn't attending to her duties, she tends to stick to the Hydroponics and Biology Bay, taking care of the plants that provide us with oxygen, food, and for Harper, some quiet company.

Then there's Liam. Liam Kosta is our teams Crisis Specialist, meaning he can do everything from shooting straight to providing basic medical care to running damage control. Basically, when trouble hits, he knows what to do to deal with it.

Kosta is 24, a born and bred Londoner. He started out as an engineer, and then moved into law enforcement because he wanted to make a difference. Bu he couldn't knuckle down under the system, so he transferred into Crisis Response; disaster relief, pulling people out of wreckage, that sort of thing. He got so good at it, that he was eventually invited to join a cross-species crisis response team, Heavy Urban Search and Crisis Response, or HUSTL. Instead of dealing strictly with disasters on Earth, he ended up hopping around disasters across Citadel Space. Pretty good job, according to Liam. He got to meet tons of new people, save lives, and feel good about himself.

According to Dad's notes, my father recruited Liam personally for the Pathfinder team. To hear Liam tell it, their relationship pretty much boiled down to Liam being British and chipper, and Dad grunting out orders all day.

Now, Liam's still chipper. He stays busy, coordinating between the Nexus and Prodromos, puttering around the Tempest and helping everybody with a little of everything.

Before we left the Nexus for Eos, Liam somehow finagled a small couch onto the Tempest and stuffed it into one of the aft supply rooms for a kind of chill out zone for everybody. Of course, the only one who seems to use it is Liam to watch his collection of old vids every night. He keeps sending me new suggestions every day of vids I should watch for "inspiration."

SAM, **pause recording**.

Honestly SAM, I don't really know what to think about Liam. He acts happy-go-lucky and upbeat. He's all over the place, acting like some kind of sheep dog, all panting and eager to help, looking for direction, and that's the problem. He went from engineer to cop to crisis response to the Initiative, all in the space of a few years.

And there's nothing wrong with that; Hell, I saw enough of my school friends go through the same thing while I went into the Alliance, but then again, I didn't have as many options as other people. Liam did, and he can't seem to knuckle down to any one thing.

That doesn't mean I don't trust him. Hell, after Habitat 7, I'd go through Hell and high water for the guy… but still. He isn't military; not the way I am, or Cora, or Drack, or even Vetra. At his heart, he's still a civilian, even if he can fight, even if he has killed. In the Initiative, a civilian venture, with everything going to plan, that's okay; but out there, out _here_ , in the dark, where anything could happen… I don't know what he'll do.

What'll I do?

Ugh. I'm getting morose again. Cut is out Scott, it's not good for you, like this food is supposed to be.

 _ **Scott scoops up another mouthful of the oat mixture and swallows.**_ Ugh. SAM, **resume recording.** Okay.

Next is Doctor Lexi T'Perro, our chief medical officer, and backs up Suvi on subjects relating to Biology, Anatomy, Physiology, and a lot of other things relating to the practice of medicine. She's asari, and… well, according to her file, she's two-hundred and seventy-five years old. Which, in human years is about late thirties to early forties I guess, though genealogically speaking, she won't be able to have children for at least another century or so. At least, that's if I understand the file on asari biology and life-cycle.

According to Lexi, her mother was a dancer on Omega, and her father was a turian bouncer at the club where her mother worked. When her father would get hurt at work, Lexi would patch him up afterwards. Since she showed a healers drive, Lexi's parents used all their savings to get Lexi off the station and send her to medical school. A few years later, her parents were killed in a turf war. "Made leaving the Milky Way easier," or so Lexi said. She's got a dry sense of humor too.

Lexi is an eminent professional, another person on this crew with a list of doctorates longer than my arm, with interests in krogan virility and alien anatomy. Not sexual though. She's one of those people who follow the philosophy of not getting involved with her patients or colleagues, which is just fine by me.

Medical personnel always have the down and dirty on people because they see people at their worst and weakest on board ship, and Lexi is no exception. She may not break "doctor/patient confidentiality", but she does pick up on things that are… "under the skin" I guess. Maybe I should ask her about Liam.

Lexi and Harry (Doctor Carlyle) are old friends. According to Lexi, she knew Harry "before he started complaining about his arthritis", which probably means somewhere around the mid-Jurassic. Heh. Though seriously, with medical advancements since the First Contact War, trying to determine someone's age by their looks is almost impossible. Harry's got silver hair, and complains about arthritis, and calls what we're doing "a young man's game." But he could be anywhere between forty and a hundred. Since the Alliance only joined the Citadel species less than thirty years ago, well, thirty years before we left the Milky Way, it can't have been that long.

Still, Harry was the one who recommended Lexi for the Initiative, and Lexi was the first person Harry called to replace him after the Habitat 7 fiasco. So far, everything's turned out pretty well.

Here's hoping it stays that way.

Vetra Nyx is our resident go-to girl for anything and everything the Tempest and her crew needs; most of which isn't in any official record, but up in her amazing plated noggin. She used to be a smuggler, up until she found out that Kesh, one of her frequent and best clients, was up to something big, and requested to get in on the action. That's how Vetra ended up in Initiative.

Vetra's a turian. Thirty years ago, if Vetra and I had ended up in the same room together, we'd have fought each other to the death. Now, I can't imagine how we'd manage without her. If I had to give her a title, it would have to be Quartermaster. Not only does she look after the Tempests stores and armory, but she can fight like hell.

Vetra is a really intense character. Not that shes up in your face about things all the time, but she takes everything seriously. I've seen her laugh and make jokes, have a drink with other people during Kasperek's wake back in Prodromos, but when the shit hits the fan, she is solid as a rock. The saying goes that "Palaven is made of iron, but turians are steel." Working with Vetra, I can believe it. She can fight, but the way she handles herself and the people on the Nexus… she's flexible, adaptable, resilient. She's got charisma, certainty, responsible, dutiful… heh. Sounds like the ideal turian to me. Which makes me wonder…

What did she go through to get this good?

Eh, putting that under "Think about later."

The thing that really got me about meeting Vetra was her facial tattoos. Most turians tattoo their faces with their colony or cluster marks and colors as a kind of sign of solidarity with their "own" people, or like humans, expressing their personal taste or code. Vetra has these broad bright purple diagonal lines across her face that form a kind of triangle across her face. The lines converge on her brow to form the highest point of the triangle, then bisect, cutting across her eyes and down to her jaw line and across her mandible, with another, thinner line just above that run parallel to the broad stripes. Considering her history, I can't imagine that Vetra's feels connected with any particular turian colony, even Palaven, so I figure that it has to be personal. Something to think about.

If there's one person on this crew that I don't want to fail, it's Vetra. She's here to work, to make the Tempest work, to make the Pathfinder Team work, to make the Initiative work and do what it promised to do. That's… some serious motivation, and more than a little scary.

Rounding out the civilian staff on this team is Gil Brodie, our Chief Engineer. Gil is a real life wrench monkey. Can't see a piece of equipment or tech lying around without wanting to poke at it, find out how it works, and then find out how to make it work _better_. Gil describes how he works and lives as "feel it, do it." He felt like joining the Andromeda Initiative, so he did it. Apparently, he didn't leave many friends behind in the Milky Way, and the only real friend he's got is on the Nexus. Don't know much more than that, we haven't exactly found time to talk.

Unlike the other professionals on the Tempest, Brodie doesn't have a list of doctorates to his name. Actually, his file is a little bare. Born on Earth, no parents, and started tinkering around with wrecked shuttle engines and other space parts as a kid. He doesn't have any formal training, but he had a lot of references and a lot of practical experience under his belt with cutting edge technology. According to his file, it was Kesh who nominated Gil for the Initiative, with Vetra as a reference. Bet there's a story there.

Anyway, Gil knows his stuff, and seems to get along pretty good with everyone. He calls Vetra and Suvi his "girls". Definitely want to know where that came from. But he doesn't seem to care for Kallo; Called a pilot's job, "a dead end." That… could be trouble.

Then there's Peebee, or Crazy Blue, or her real name: Pelessaria B'Sayle. Wow, that a mouthful. I can understand why she shortened it.

Peebee is not your typical asari. She's loud, obnoxious, bouncy, irreverent, irresponsible, nosy, and yet, she's taking on the Remnant with a kind of gusto that I've only ever seen in Sara when she talks about her Prothean digs. And that's… a little scary. Peebee's file is also a little bare, and she doesn't have too much that I could call formal training. But... the way she handled herself on Eos… at least she knows how and when to duck, and with that modified pistol she carries, I think I can depend on her to hold her own. I just need to be ready to duck when she does, in case the shot comes for me.

Peebee's set herself up just off the bridge, right outside the escape pods. Lexi says she has commitment issues. And Peebee leaves the room whenever Lexi turns up. Wonder what that's about? I didn't see her too much on the Nexus either. Why?

She said she came to Andromeda to do things that no one else had ever done, see things unseen, ride the very edge of discovery. I can definitely get behind that, but she's going to have to slow down a little for the rest of us, for the Nexus sake.

I can definitely understand the hunger to see what's behind the next corner. Yes I do.

Finally there's our new resident krogan: Nakmor Drack. Drack looks and feels like a dinosaur: the kind that could get knocked on his butt by a T-Rex, then jump back up, rip Rex's leg off, beat it to death with his bare hands, and then cook and eat the whole mess, grinning the whole time. That's Drack. He fights and he cooks. Ha!

You know, when I pictured my first meeting with a krogan out here, I expected things to take a turn for the worse. But somehow, not only have I got a krogan on my crew, I have THE krogan on my crew.

{THE krogan?}

The ideal krogan, the quintessential krogan, the distilled krogan; take your pick. Drack is over 1400 years old. This is a guy who was stomping around the Milky Way when the Roman Empire fell, when humans could barely imagine traveling across a country, much less between galaxies. Drack saw the Krogan Rebellions, saw first-hand the damage that the genophage did to his species. He's probably killed more people in his life time than anyone in the Initiative, except maybe another krogan…

… and Drack is Kesh's grandfather. God! If he finds out that I asked Kesh on a date… I don't think running back to the Milky Way will be far enough.

And he cooks. That's something I did not see coming. When most people think about krogan, they think hulking juggernauts rampaging across the galaxy, or the genophage that shattered them as a power in the Milky Way. I guess I knew some krogan did cook, but I had no idea that I was bringing a Shepard-given chef onto the Tempest. In the time he's been here, Drack's taken our supplies and turned them into food you can actually eat, instead of stuff you put in your mouth and just have to endure, like this oatmeal. And he's augmented them with what he's caught. When Vetra and Cora had to pick Drack up in the desert back on Eos? He was so slow because he was bringing in his _larder_.

Turns out, krogan have learned to take living off the land to the next level. To me, Eos was a radioactive sandbox. For Drack, Eos was just like Tuchanka, only with a lot more choices for food. Challyrion, kaerkyns, olloids, Desert Blue Tip buds and fruit, even small stuff like brush flowers and bark. Krogan are omnivores like humans and asari, but Drack…

I can't even imagine how a creature that big could work in our tiny galley. The first night after we left Eos, Drack cracked open his larder and cooked up what looked and tasted like an honest-to-God chicken soup, out of the guts of a challyrion he killed out in the Golden Wastes.

After we left Eos, I asked Lexi for her take on Drack. SAM?

 _ **{T'Perro: "I've never met someone so stubborn and so appreciative."}**_

Yeah… and that's another thing. Back when Drack first agreed to join up with us, I took a scan of him just in case. Over half his major organs have been replaced by cybernetics or biomechanics, or just aren't there anymore. He should have two hearts: he has one. He should have four kidneys: two are biomechanical replacements, and one real kidney doesn't even work anymore. Part of his spine has been removed and replaced. And on top of all of that, he's go that cybernetic right arm that looks like he ripped it off a geth colossus.

He's had it rough, and he looks it. He's tough, and he knows it. He's been hurt, and he keeps going in spite of everything, for 1400 years. And he's Kesh's grandfather. That's… wow. Just… wow.

You know something? I'm really starting to look forward to the next few days.

 **[Pathfinder?]**

Yes Kallo?

 **[We just crossed the edge of our maps. We're in unknown territory.]**

See any dragons?

 **[What?]**

It's… nothing. I'll be right there. Just need to finish my breakfast.

 **[Better do it quickly. Suvi's getting some odd readings on the long range sensors. Could be Scourge.]**

Understood. Be right there. SAM, **end recording.**

…

 **Authors Note: Voting is closed. 4-0 for Havaarl.**


	27. Chapter 27

**Thoughts from Andromeda part 27**

By ElementalsAdvocate

…

 **Year 2819. Day 26 after Arrival. Unknown System. Unknown Planet. Unknown City. Tempest, Pathfinders Cabin.**

…

SAM! **Start recording!**

I've only got a couple of minutes, so I'd better make this count.

Bottom line, we've discovered a new intelligent species here in Heleus. I don't know who they are, and SAM's still working on language translation. But, they're definitely flying around in the same kind of shuttle we discovered abandoned off "99". And they haven't shot at us yet, which is definite plus over the kett.

And the kett! Fuck! They came after us. They hunted us down just outside this system, caught us against a massive wall of Scourge, and if it weren't for Kallo and SAM and Gil being on the top of their game, we'd definitely be on a slab being dissected by some kett scientist!

Fuck! They were looking for me! Not for me – but for Dad! For the Human Pathfinder! How does that happen? What is going on?

Now, I need to go out there and see if the locals are interested in talking. SAM, if anything happens to me, you follow the protocol. Transfer to Cora, do everything you can to get the Tempest and the crew out of here. And if that doesn't work… transfer all my reports, notes, and logs to Captain Dunn, with a copy to Sara. And please… look after her. Don't let her wake up alone.

 _{Yes, Scott. However, I do not believe that will be necessary.}_

…Why?

 _{I have no intention of allowing you or the Tempest to come to harm.}_

Heh. Thanks SAM. For everything. **End recording.**

…


	28. Incident Log - Aya

**Thoughts from Andromeda: Incident Logs**

By ElementalsAdvocate

…

 _ **Authors Note: Fair warning: this is all from SAM's point of view, or as near as I could make it, so bear with me.**_

…

 **Year 2819. Day 26 after Arrival. Incident Log. Beginning approximately 0947 (morning) and concluding approximately 1106.**

 **Present on Bridge: Scott Enfield Ryder (Pathfinder), Kallo Jath (Pilot), Suvi Anwar (Science Officer).**

…

 **Kallo:** "We're on a collision course with unknown objects!"

 **Scott:** "Make corrections. SAM, are you one this?"

 **SAM:** _{"Collision is imminent."}_

 **Scott:** "All stop! Now!"

 _ **WARNING! UNKNOWN SIGNATURES DETECTED! RELATIVE BEARING: 0°, RANGE: 1.7 kilometers. IDENTIFIED: 1 LARGE VESSEL, HEAVY CRUISER CLASS OR HIGHER DETECTED, VERIFICATION PENDING.**_

 _ **WARNING! SCOURGE CONCENTRATIONS RISING: FIELD SPREAD APPROACHING HABITAT 7 LEVELS AND RISING! ADVISE CAUTION!**_

 _ **WARNING! MULTIPLE WEAPON SIGNATURES DETECTED! Kett vessel bringing primary weapons lock: Weapons tentatively identified as plasma cannon, sized for dreadnought-vessel. WARNING! TEMPEST NOT EQUIPPED WITH SHIELDS OR ARMOR TO WITHSTAND ATTACK BY PLASMA CANNON. ADVICE EVASIVE MANEUVERS IF FIRED UPON!**_

 _ **DETECTING: Multiple small craft moving to flank. CONFIGURATIONS UNKNOWN. ACESSING INITIATIVE SECURITY DATABASE… IDENTIFIED: KETT FIGHTERS.**_

 **Suvi:** "Kett ships, a dozen- no, more!

 **Kallo:** "They've got us pinned against the Scourge!"

 _ **Peebee enters Bridge from Starboard Escape Pods.**_

 **SAM:** "They are scanning us, Pathfinder."

 **Scott:** "Well, scan them back!"

 _ **Lieutenant Cora Harper, Crisis Specialist Liam Kosta, Quartermaster Vetra Nyx, Mercenary Nakmor Drack enter Bridge.**_

 _ **DETECTING INCOMING VID-LINK FROM KETT VESSEL. PATCHING IN… VID-LINK ESTABLISHED. KETT ALIEN OF UNKNOWN VARIANT. LARGE, ROUND, SLIGHTLY LUMINOUS WHITE EYES, with barely discernable pupil. Distinctive bony crest forming a circle across the rear of the skull, forming a shape similar to a halo. Denotes authority? Evolution? Unknown.**_

 **Unknown kett alien: ["Where is the one who activated the Remnant? Their DNA signature is there."]**

 _ **Kosta attempts to move to forward viewer, face contorted as if to yell, but Leiutenant Harper intercedes, grabbing Liams arm and shaking her head (to keep Liam silent?)**_

 **Scott:** "I'm Ryder; Captain of this ship and Pathfinder with the Andromeda Initiative. And who are you?"

 **Unknown kett: ["…You'll come with me."]**

 _ **WARNING! HACKING ATTEMPT IN PROCESS! ATTEMPTING TO COUNTER.**_

 **Suvi:** "They've locked Navigation."

 **Kallo:** "We're being steered into their ship!"

 **Scott to Unknown kett:** "Just tell me what you want!"

 **Unknown kett: ["… I won't explain what you can't understand."]**

 **SAM:** _{Ryder. I have almost regained control of the ship. I need a few more seconds.}_

 **Scott to Unknown kett:** "Okay, now you've made me mad! Who the Hell do you think you are?!"

 **Unknown kett:** **["Enough! Your defiance is naïve and reckless. This day marks the beginning of your greatness."]**

 _ **MESSAGE LINK TERMINATED. REGAINING CONTROL OF TEMPEST SYSTEMS. RETURNING HELM CONTROL TO BRIDGE STATIONS. PLOTTING POSSIBLE ESCAPE VECTORS… ESCAPE PAST KETT VESSELS: PROBABILITY OF SUCCESS… 0.47%. ESCAPE THROUGH SCOURGE FIELD? PLOTTING… COURSE PLOTTED. PROBABILITY OF SUCCESS, GIVEN TEMPEST PERFORMANCE AND CREW ABILITY… 6.64%.**_

Scott: "SAM?"

SAM: _{"I have plotted a potential course through the Scourge."}_

Scott: "Do it!"

 _ **Pilot Kallo Jath setting in course and commencing evasive maneuvers. WARNING! KETT FIGHTERS ATTEMPTING TO PERSUE THROUGH SCOURGE FIELD. EXPLOSIONS DETECTED-**_

 **Scott to Suvi:** "Report!"

 **Suvi:** "Enemy destroyed- damage to aft sensors-"

 **Scott:** "Scourge got it?"

 **Suvi:** "Yes."

 _ **WARNING! KETT FIGHTER FOLLOWING PARALLEL COURSE THROUGH THE SCOURGE FIELD!**_

 **Liam:** "Get us out of here!"

 _ **WARNING! SCOURGE STRANDS APPROACHING WITHIN CRITICAL DISTANCE-! DETECTING GAP AT FIELD EDGE: DIMENSIONS: APPROXIAMATELY 10 METERS HIGH BY 50 METERS WIDE. TEMPEST CLEARANCE: 8 METERS HIGH BY 45 METERS WIDE.**_

 **SAM:** _{"It will be tight."}_

 _ **APPROACHING FIELD EDGE. DISTANCE TO GAP: - 3 KM-2KM-1KM-! WARNING! SCOURGE STRANDS WITHIN CRITICAL DISTANCE!**_

 **Vetra:** "Kallo…"

 _ **EXPLOSION DETECTED. ENEMY SHIP DESTROYED. CAUSE: CONTACT WITH SCOURGE TENDRIL. WARNING! SHOCKWAVE APPROACHING, SCOURGE REACTING! WARNING! GAP CLOSING!**_ _ **DISTANCE TO GAP: - 3 KM-2KM-1KM-!**_

 **Kallo:** "Yes!"

 _ **LEAVING SCOURGE FIELD… DISTANCE: 10 KM… 20 KM… 30 KM…**_

 **Drack:** "Ha! Nice work, kid."

 _ **Kallo appears (dumbfounded?) at the krogans praise.**_

 **Scott:** "Yeah… but who the _Hell_ was that guy?"

 **Engineer Gil Brodie: [Broadcast] "[Ryder! We got trouble down here! You need to find us a port - Now! "]**

 _ **CONFIRMED. STATIC BUILD-UP IN ODSY DRIVE CORE REACHING CRITICAL LEVELS. STATIC DISCHARGE REQUIRED IMMEDIATELY IF CORE INTEGRITY IS TO BE MAINTAINED. WARNING! CORE OVERLOADING! CHIEF ENGINEER GILBERT BRODIE AUTHORIZING EMERGENCY CORE SHUNT… CONFIRMED. SHUNTING OVERLOAD TO IES SYSTEM… HEAT TRANSFERING TO IES HEAT SINKS. WARNING! HEAT SINK TEMPERATURES APPROACHING CRITICAL LEVELS. REPEAT: DISCHARGE DRIVE CORE IMMEDIATELY TO MAINTAIN CORE INTEGRITY. WARNING: KINETIC BARRIER STRENGTH IS AT 23.12%.**_

Scott: "Gil, what's happening?"

 **Gil: ["Short answer: We just went through a bloody Scourge field! We didn't get hit; otherwise I'd be looking at stars down here, but we still got whacked but good! The ODSY Drive wasn't able to take the charge, so I had to shunt the overload to some less important systems-"]**

 **Kallo:** "What!?

 **Gil: ["It was that or let the charge ground itself in the Tempest and blow us back to the Milky Way in pieces! Right now the ODSY Drive's keeping it together but the electrostatic charge hasn't gone away, and the heat sinks are as hot as they can stand. We're lit up like a bloody New Year's Parade float, and the shields won't hold if we're hit by anything much larger than space dust! We need a planet's atmosphere to discharge the core, or better yet, a port to land in and ground the charge. Then I can assess the damage and make repairs."]**

 **Scott:** "Great. Hang in there, Brodie. We're doing the best we can. Where'd we end up, anyway? Suvi?"

 **Suvi:** "Sensors are damaged, but I think we're at the vaults co-ordinates."

 **Scott:** ""You think-?" Ugh. [Broadcast] [Gil, give it what you can. We're setting down."]

 _ **PLANET DETECTED.**_

 _ **3rd Planet from the sun.**_

 _ **Orbital Distance: 1.1 AU.**_

 _ **Orbital Period: 1.3 Earth Years.**_

 _ **Keplerian Ratio: 0.788.**_

 _ **Radius: 3,289 Km.**_

 _ **Nitrogen-Oxygen atmosphere… Atmospheric Pressure: 1.40 atm.**_

 _ **Surface temperature: 28 °C.**_

 _ **DETECTED: VOLCANIC ACTIVITY ACROSS 52% OF THE PLANET. NO NATURAL CAUSE DETECTED.**_

 _ **ALERT! REMNANT SIGNAL DETECTED. LOCATION… UNKNOWN, UNABLE TO TRIANGULATE DUE TO VOLCANIC ACTIVITY WITHIN THE PLANET AND FLUCTUATIONS FROM BLACK HOLE: H-012 KETOS CLUSTER COREWARD.**_

 _ **BEGINNING ENTRY… ALERT. COMMUNICATIONS SIGNAL DETECTED.**_

 **Suvi:** "We're being contacted."

 _ **DETECTING 4 SIGNATURES, UNKNOWN CONFIGURATION, APPROACHING AT SPEED.**_

 **Scott:** "Damn it—we have to land! _**[Sighs]**_ Open a comm."

 _ **COMM CHANNEL OPEN… RECEIVINGCOMM SIGNAL, PATCHING SIGNAL IN:**_

 **Unknown Alien Contact:** **[Tove jagalesh do!]**

 _ **TRANSLATION BEGUN… INSUFFICIENT DATA.**_

 _ **Unknown Alien Contact: [Tove jagalesh do!]**_

 **Scott:** "We're visitors from another galaxy. Our intentions are peaceful."

 **Unknown Alien Contact: [Paav, nele set do.]**

 _ **RECEIVING NAVIGATION INFORMATION. PLOTTING…**_

 **Kallo:** "They've sent us a nav-point."

 **Ryder:** "Set us down."

 _ **WARNING: ADDITIONAL SIGNATURES DETECTED… 6 TOTAL, CONFIGURATION SIMILAR TO UNKNOWN DERELICT SHUTTLE RECOVERED FROM ORBIT OF H-599 (Zheng He System)… SHUTTLES ASSUMING A FLANK AND GUARD POSITION AROUND TEMPEST AT 1 KILOMETER RADIUS. APPROACHING NAV-POINT. DETECTING ELEVATED HEAT SIGNATURES CONSISTENT WITH GEOTHERMAL ENERGY… REFINED METALS… SYNTHETIC COMPOUNDS… LARGE QUANTITIES OF LIQUID WATER…**_

Scott: "Oh… yes!"

 _ **CONFIRMED. SETTLEMENT DETECTED.**_

Scott: "Ha! Look at that… it's beautiful.

 _ **HULL CAMERAS ACTIVATED… LARGE WHITE BUILDINGS SET ON TOP OF A RIDGE OF VOLCANIC BASALT, OVERLOOKING A LARGE LAKE. STREETS AND BUILDINGS COVERED BY LARGE AWNINGS, IN SHADES OF GREENA ND BLUE. DETECTING MULTIPLE HEAT SIGNATURES… CONFIRMED. LIFESIGNS DETECTED, LIFEFORMS UNREGISTERED IN INITIATIVE DATABASES. DETECTING ABUNDANCE OF FLORA… CONFIRMED: INDUSTRIAL SCALE AGRICULTURE WITHIN THE SETTLEMENT AND SURROUNDING AREAS: TERRACES, ORACHARDS, AND FIELDS, FLORA UNKNOWN… DETECTED: VOLCANIC ACTIVITY TO PLANETARY SOUTHWEST OF SETTLEMENT. SOURCE: VOLCANIC FISSURE, APPROXIAMATELY 126 KM FROM SETTLEMENT. SENSORS INDICATE STABLE LAVA FLOWS, WITH STRONG PROBABILITY OF SMALL, FREQUENT EARTHQUAKES.**_

 _ **NAV-POINT BEACON CONFIRMED: STAR-PORT TO NORTH-EAST SIDE OF SETTLEMENT. PROCEED.**_

 _ **DETECTED: LARGE CONCETRATIONS OF FLORA TO NORTH-EAST OF SETTLEMENT, CONSISTENT WITH TROPICAL PRIMORDIAL JUNGLES OF EARTH AND SUR-KESH, EXTENDING**_

 _ **LANDING BEACON CONFIRMED. PROCEEDING TO LANDING ZONE. HULL CAMERAS: STARPORT LOCATED IN VOLCANIC HOLLOW BELOW THE SETTLEMENT. LANDING PLATFORM LOCATED APPROXIAMATELY 18 METERS BELOW RIDGE-TOP, IN THE CENTER OF THE HOLLOW, HANGING OVER A LARGE WATERFALL AND POOL. THERE IS APPROXIAMTELY 46 METERS OF OPEN AIR BETWEEN THE PLATFORM AND THE POOL.**_

 _ **EXTENDING LANDING GEAR… 30 METERS TO TOUCH-DOWN… 20 METERS… 10 METERS… 5. 4. 3. 2. 1… TOUCH-DOWN. LOWERING KINETIC BARRIERS, VENTING IES HEAT SINKS, BEGINNING CORE ELECTOSTATIC DISCHARGE PROCEDURES; TIME TO COMPLETION: 1 HOUR, 36 MINUTES.**_

 _ **WARNING: SHUTTLES ASSUMING FLANK POSITIONS AND GUARD POSTURE AROUND THE STAR PORT. ALERT: WEAPON SIGNATURES DETECTED: SHUTTLES ARMED WITH PLASMA-BASED WEAPONRY. NO WEAPON LOCKS.**_

 **Scott:** "These folks aren't taking any chances."

 **Vetra:** "I don't like this, Ryder."

 **Scott:** "Doesn't matter if you like it or not. We need in that vault."

 **Vetra:** "Please. You're not really going out there on your own."

 **Scott:** "We can't afford a repeat of last time. I'm the Pathfinder – first contact is on me."

 **Liam:** "Most important thing ever. No pressure."

 **Scott:** "Yeah, no pressure."

 _ **Scott exits the bridge. As soon as the bridge doors close, Scott immediately jumps down the ladder to Deck 2 and enters the Pathfinders Cabin.**_

SAM! **Start recording!**

I've only got a couple of minutes, so I'd better make this count.

Bottom line, we've discovered a new intelligent species here in Heleus. I don't know who they are, and SAM's still working on language translation. But, they're definitely flying around in the same kind of shuttle we discovered abandoned off "99". And they haven't shot at us yet, which is definite plus over the kett.

And the kett! Fuck! They came after us. They hunted us down just outside this system, caught us against a massive wall of Scourge, and if it weren't for Kallo and SAM and Gil being on the top of their game, we'd definitely be on a slab being dissected by some kett scientist!

Fuck! They were looking for me! Not for me – but for Dad! For the Human Pathfinder! How does that happen? What is going on?

Now, I need to go out there and see if the locals are interested in talking. SAM, if anything happens to me, you follow the protocol. Transfer to Cora, do everything you can to get the Tempest and the crew out of here. And if that doesn't work… transfer all my reports, notes, and logs to Captain Dunn, with a copy to Sara. And tell them if they meet a kett with a face like a fucking blowfish and ice like a pair of blue moons, shoot him for me! And please… look after Sara. Don't let her wake up alone.

 _{Yes, Scott. However, I do not believe that will be necessary.}_

…Why?

 _{I have no intention of allowing you or the Tempest to come to harm.}_

Heh. Thanks SAM.

 _ **Scott turns and exits the cabin, striding through the Tempest to the cargo bay and the exit ramp.**_

"Okay. Show time-"

"Hold it!"

 _ **Docter T'Perro runs up to Scott, drags up the sleeve of his left arm, activates a hypo-spray, and swiftly begins administering a barrage of anti-biotics to Scott.**_

"Doc?"

"I'm giving you a broad-spectrum series of antibiotics. Scans haven't found anything recognizably contagious, so this should keep you together long enough to get us out of here. Finished!" _**Lexi pulls the sleeve back down.**_ "Now! I assume you're up to date on First-Contact protocols concerning personal health and safety?"

"Yes Doctor. I covered all that during training. "Don't eat anything. Don't drink anything. Don't touch anything unless I've scanned it first and made sure it's safe."

"I suppose it'll have to do. Good luck, Pathfinder."

 _ **Doctor T'Perro turns and retreats out of the cargo, once again leaving Scott alone. Scott activates his omni tool and sends a command to open the bulkhead doors of the exit ramp. There is a sudden hiss as air from the planet rushes into the Tempest. It smells of sulphur, likely from the active volcano's sighted on the Tempests approach. Scott likens it to the smell of rotten eggs or the mineral springs of Yellowstone National Park on Earth.**_

 _ **Scott steps to the edge of the ramp and looks down. The Tempest is resting on platform, hanging out above the plunge-pool of a large waterfall that Scott can immediately hear.**_

 _ **At the bottom of the ramp are a dozen aliens of a species unknown to Initiative database. All are fully covered in heavy skin-tight cyan-colored protective gear, obscuring all features. The aliens appear to be of the same speicies, with a physical variation that would seem to indicate a degree of dimorphism, (possible between male and female of the species?) The first (group) are characterized by broad shoulders and narrow hips, and the second group characterized by smaller shoulders (in comparison to the first group) and larger hips, similar to the dimorphism which occurs in human and turian species.**_

 _ **All the aliens are wearing smooth featureless helmets completely hiding their features from view. The tops are round and curved like a soup bowl, but on either side of the head are two sets of fringes or plates,**_

 _ **All the aliens are bibrachial and bipedal, possessing two arms and two legs. However, while the arms and hands appear humanoid, the leg structure of all the aliens is more similar to that of quarians and salarians than that of humans, possessing visible recurve joints that turn at almost right angles from the thigh, back into a curve so that the individual is balancing upon a strung bow. This adaptation would likely provide a considerable strength in stride, possibly for bounding across an open landscape, or perhaps for hopping or lunging for prey as the ancient salarians did.**_

 _ **All of the aliens are armed. The weapons are of three variations: a large pistol similar to a hand cannon, made of heavy synthetic materials and metals, a large rifle with a long barrel and sight of similar make, and a short heavy tube, likely some form of shotgun. Short heavy knives with long handles are also in evidence, sheathed and strapped to alien thighs and behind the waist. However, while they are all armed, only a few of them are actually pointing their weapons at Ryder.**_

 _ **Scott slowly raises both hands over his head and descends the ramps 30 degree incline, treading slowly and steadily, making no sudden movements that might startle or antagonize the aliens.**_

 _ **When Scott reaches the bottom of the ramp, one of the aliens steps forward and extends their (hand?) towards Ryder. A scanner is detected in a device strapped to the aliens (forearm?), and it is scanning Scott, though not to the invasive degree of a cutting edge medical scanner. The scanner is likely trying to detect concealed weapons and/or dangerous agents about Scotts person.**_

 _ **Unknown 1:**_ "Tas goaj yabe jenvad."

 _ **Unknown 2:**_ "Ged tas gohal tam yehal?"

 _ **Scott makes to lower his hands, but the surrounding (guards/warriors/attendants) immediately raise their weapons, and Scott raises his hands to their former position.**_

 _ **Scott:**_ "Need me to take off my shoes?" _**Ryder's comment is clearly meant to lighten the mood. As it is unknown whether the aliens can translate his language, it seems more for his own benefit than a genuine attempt at communication.**_

 _ **Unknown 1 completes its scan, and nods to Unknown 2.**_

 _ **Unknown 1:**_ "Eham daar goss."

 _ **Unknown 2:**_ "Nasen roa."

 _ **Unknown 1 moves to Ryders left, out of his way, and Unknown 2 jerks its head for Ryder to proceed forward, through the armed entourage. Ryder hesitates for a moment, and then proceeds as indicated. Five of the aliens form up around Ryder, firmly boxing him in, with two leading from either side, two flanking, and one directly behind with (shotgun?) leveled at Scott's back. The other aliens remain where they are, apparently to guard the Tempest, as they make no move to approach up the ramp or move against the outside.**_

 _ **Scott is led off the platform, through a small shuttle port. Gunships hover in the air overhead, bows and (presumably) guns pointed towards the grounded Tempest. Exiting the port, the group enters a long covered walkway, similar to a cloister, open to the outside air. There are plants everywhere, growing out of large terraces and planters along the sides of the hall.**_

 _ **The group climbs a short set of stairs, coming out into a large courtyard open to the sky. There are more aliens around on the periphery of the yard, but the guards march Scott to the base of another set of stairs.**_

 _ **Standing at the top of this staircase are five aliens, standing side by side and looking down at the approaching group. None of them are wearing the uniform protective gear of the (guards?). Civilian leaders then? Two (males?) and three (females?). Without protective helmets, the aliens facial features are visible, revealing humanoid features: two eyes, a flat nose, a mouth, clearly defined chins. The male faces are sharper, while the females appear more rounded. However, they have no distinguishable hair, and from the level of the brows, flesh sweeps out from either side of the head and descending the neck to the shoulders and possibly beyond. In the males, the flesh forms similar to the hood of cobras, expanding to halfway between the neck and shoulders. In the females, it forms a (tentacle?) on either side of the head, haloing the face before disappearing beneath high collars and down the front of the chest, forming a noticeable bulge beneath the fabric, though what functions these may fulfill is unknown at this point.**_

 _ **However, the most distinguishing features is that all the aliens show distinctively different coloring. (Far left male with weapon: Purple, with large lavender freckles across the face and down the neck and throat. Left male: Bright green on crown and across neck-folds, with pale face and throat.) Center female (Royal blue crown with light blue face and neck folds. An artistic design in white is (painted? Tattooed?) Around the edge of her crown directly over her brow, showing visibly against the blue. May denote authority.) Right female ( blue. similar to center female, but without tattoos). Far right female (Green crown, pale face and neck.)**_

 _ **The female with the sharp white markings in the shape of a tiara over her brow steps to the apex of the staircase, looking down directly at Scott.**_

 _ **Unknown Alien 3:**_ "I am Paaran Shie, governor of Aya. We are the angara."

 _ **Scott:**_ "Hello. I'm a Pathfinder with the Initiative."

 _ **Governor Paaran Shie:**_ "Yes. You crossed darkspace. I've heard of your journey." _**The governor seems about to continue, but is interrupted by another angara, a male in some kind of light body armor under a short blue poncho-like cape and wearing an blue haptic eyepiece pushes through the line.**_ "Jaal. I have this in hand-" _ **but Jaal (translation unknown, proper name/noun) raises his hand, peremptorily cutting the Governor off.**_

 **Jaal:** "Evfra saw the ship come in and sent me to find out what's going on."

 _ **Jaal slowly descends the stairs, taking Scott in, while Scott does the same to the Angaran. Jaal exhibited another distinct coloring of the angara: Pink and purple and maroon in an intricate spotting pattern, pale on areas of the face. A large noticeable scar is on the left side of Jaal's neck, where something has cut a wedge out of his neck, source unknown. (Possibly a large knife. A sword? Unknown.) Three small black metal bands pierce a fold of skin on the left side of Jaal's head, just above where the temple would be in a human, opposite the haptic eye-piece that wraps around the right side of Jaal's head.**_

 **Governor Paaran Shie:** "He's a human from another galaxy. A Pathfinder.

 _ **Jaal advances down stairs and walks right up to Scott, bringing his face to within inches of Scotts, studying him.**_ **Jaal:** "Aya is hidden. Protected. What do you want?"

 _ **The angaran's eyes are a bright blue, with black slits for pupils, similar in appearance to that of a cat, though the sclera appears black instead of white. A memory flashes across Scott's mind: the image of a large cat; identification cougar (Puma Concolor), standing upon a rock and staring directly at Scott. The memory causes Scott's adrenal glands to increase production precipitously. In response, Scott deliberately breathes deeply, stands straighter, looking Jaal in the eyes and speaking slowly and clearly.**_

 **Scott:** "Honestly? We came hoping to find a vault. But the fact is that we didn't know what we would find. But I'm willing to share what we know, if you are."

 _ **Jaal makes a sound, (a sort of cross between a "hmmm" and a snort. (part Consideration, part Incredulity?)**_ **Jaal:** "Hmph! Honesty? Honesty would be a good start." _**Jaal raises his chin, looking down at Scott with a (unknown) expression.**_ _**With that (enigmatic?) statement, Jaal turns around and walks back up the stairs.**_ "I'll inform Evfra. He'll be waiting for you in his office at Resistance Headquarters. I'll meet you there."

 _ **Governor Shie eyes Jaal as the male angaran walks past her, then turns back to Scott.**_ **Paaran Shie:** "I will accompany you through our city. Your crew will stay on your ship. Follow me."

 _ **Scott nods in acknowledgment, and then follows Governor Shie, guards following close behind.**_

 **Paaran Shie:** "Follow closely. Do not try to explore the city or interact with anyone. Evfra's guards will use force if necessary."

 **SAM [Private]:** _{Scott, I have relayed the instructions to the Tempest. The crew will remain within as requested. Lieutenant Harper would like you to know that the heat sinks on the IES system have cooled sufficiently to allow for escape if necessary. The angara have made no attempts to scan or tamper with the Tempest, however a heavy guard presence remains.}_

 **Scott:** "Understood. Is it okay if I ask you questions?"

 **Paaran Shie:** "I suppose."

 _ **Scott begins to follow the Governor, followed closely by two of the guards.**_ **Scott:** "If you're the governor, why do I need to see this "Evfra"?

 **Paaran Shie:** "He's leader of the Resistance."

 **Scott:** "What's that?"

 **Paaran Shie:** "They fight the kett – and protect us."

 _ **The Governor says no more, and Scott seems to be considering her words, but is quickly distracted by the surroundings. The Angaran settlement (Aya?) appears to be built of composite material. Floors, walls, support frames all appear to be made of the same material. Everthing is in an off-white color, with ocassional bands of dusty-blue on some of the buildings and fixtures. Patterns of circles and lines in blue and saffron spot the walls, though their purpose is unknown (Merely decorative? A written language?).**_

 _ **Flora abounds, large fronds and bushes (similar in appearance to those found in jungles across the Milky Way galaxy, though with noticeable variation in shape and color) in planters, placed along the edges of open spaces and up on the tops of walls and buildings to keep them out of the way of passers-by, but still present.**_

 _ **They pass a small fountain stuck into a corner, a broad hole in the wall of the terrace spilling clear water into an open trough. The sound of water is audible all around, and as Paaran and Scott descend a short flight of stairs and enter onto a broad balcony, another waterfall is revealed, spilling out of a broad natural cleft in the rock and cascading down below the settlement in frothy waves of blue and white.**_

 _ **Natural out-cropping's of volcanic basalt thrust up above the settlement buildings, the settlement built around and secured upon the ridge. More plants and vines grow from the rock, making green and brown curtains against black stone.**_

 _ **Paaran and Scott pass a courtyard, filled with angara of both sexes, blocked from approaching any further by more armed guards. Scott can hear the voices from the crowd.**_

… _**(Translation of Angara Language rudiments complete.)…**_

 **Unknown Angara:** "What's this?"

 **Unknown Angara:** "We have a visitor."

 **Unknown Angara:** "This isn't safe. We should lock it up."

 **SAM [Private]** : _{I detect unusual levels of electrostatic energy in the angara. Also, the translators the angara are using: I have analyzed the translation, and there is a strong probability that they are using one of the Initiative Basic Translation programs, though how they would be in possession of the software is as yet, unknown.}_

 **Unknown Angara:** "This is insane. It belongs in a containment cell."

 **Unknown Angara:** "Let Governor Shie handle this."

 **Unknown Angara:** "You don't know what you're doing."

 **Scott:** "Am I that intimidating?"

 **Paaran Shie:** "You're an outsider who invaded our home. We know nothing about you."

 **Scott:** "I'm not here to cause trouble."

 **Paaran Shie:** "Then keep moving."

 _ **The Governor leads Scott onto a bridge that passes under a looming basalt outcropping on one side and another large waterfall on the other, before coming out beneath a pale blue awning, leading out into another square. More angara are clustered at edges of the road and on top of buildings to see the "alien".**_

 **Unknown Angara:** "How did it find us?"

 **Unknown Angara:** " "He," not "it." And stop staring."

A _ **way from the open balconies on the edge of the ridge, the smell of Sulphur is reduced, overpowered by the smell of water and plants. More terraces and planters encircle the square, filled with tall conical plants that spread large blue flowers petals to the sun above.**_

 **SAM [Private]:** _{None of the local flora registers in my data files. We've encountered an undiscovered ecosystem.}_

 **Angaran Guard:** "Keep moving."

 **Scott:** "Sorry. It's just… it's been a long time since I've seen this much moving water in one place that didn't come out of a pipe. Your city… it's… beautiful."

 **Paaran Shie:** "Thank you. You're the first outsider to see it."

 **Scott:** "I'm honored. So, what happens if Evfra doesn't like me?"

 **Paaran Shie:** "He _won't_ – but you need to earn his trust."

 **Scott:** "He's responsible for everyone's safety. I know what that's like."

 _ **The governor shoots a look at Scott, brows twitching (interest?).**_ **Paaran Shie:** "You're a leader."

 **Scott:** "Trying to be."

Paaran Shie: "Here we are." _**Paaran stops outside a large circular building, indistinguishable from the others they had passed, except by its size, easily twice that of any single building yet seen in the settlement.**_ **Paaran:** "Someone will show you to Evfra. Do not wander off."

Scott: "Thank you."

 _ **Paaran nods, and then waits until Scott enters the building.**_

 _ **Scott finds himself in an ante-chamber, empty except for more plants and a blank computer terminal. Scott hears voices around a corner and quietly moves to investigate. Turning a corner, Scott spots Jaal, speaking sternly with a male angaran in the same cyan-armor of the settlement guards and carrying a large kett rifle, but without a helmet, revealing bright green skin mottled with white across the face and neck, and wearing an expression of (remorse? Confusion? Defiance?)**_

 **Jaal:** "They're bullies, but this situation is now your fault. Don't get kicked out Moraan – not because of them."

 **Moraan:** "But you're telling me to be weak."

 **Jaal:** "No." _**Jaal places his hand on Moraan's shoulder, an affectionate and reassuring gesture.**_ "I'm telling you to be strong through your cunning and heart." _**Jaal notices Ryder, glancing in his direction before turning back to Moraan.**_ "Okay?"

 _ **Moraan nods and begins to walk away, but Jaal brings the other male up short with a low-toned**_ "Hey." _ **Chastised, Moraan turns back around and sheepishly hands over the heavy kett rifle.**_

 **Moraan:** "It really is the best one in the Resistance."

 **Jaal:** "I know."

 _ **Moraan walks away, but not before giving Scott a hard, blank faced look as he passes the human to go deeper into the building. Again, the image of having a large predatory cat in a desert, staring at Scott with large unblinking eyes.**_

 **Jaal:** "Our experience with the kett makes us naturally distrustful of aliens."

 **Scott:** "I understand. We've had our own run-ins with the kett."

 **Jaal:** "Then, you really do understand. When the Archon came to Heleus, he demolished our sovereign state – took what he wanted, as if we were nothing. Now, the kett mercilessly abduct angara. Often, we never see our people again."

 _ **(All through his speech, Jaals face has been contorting, expressions switching as if he is being confronted by images of the ketts actions upon the angara, bearing his teeth and twisting his nose and brows into a rictus of emotion.) But abruptly Jaal's face calms.**_ **Jaal:** "Come this way. Evfra is waiting."

 **Scott:** "Wait," _**Scott is forced to skip to keep up with Jaal's sudden turn to go deeper into the building,**_ "the kett kidnap you – steal your people?"

 **Jaal:** "And the Resistance fights them every day, with everything we can."

 **Scott:** "Is it attrition? What are they after?"

 **Jaal:** "You should save your questions for Evfra."

 **Unknown angara, raised in anger:** "Kadara be damned. I won't lose Voeld."

 _ **Jaal and Ryder enter a large room, lit by sky-lights in the roof of the building. Along one wall are dozens of large screens that cover the entire space, filled with charts and maps and projections. Several angara are working feverishly at consoles below the screens. Some stop to stare for a moment at Ryder, but turn back to their work when they recognize Jaal with Ryder.**_

 _ **Standing in the center of the room with his back to a large table is a single male angara, dressed in similar garb as the civilians Scott had seen coming to the building and a large blue (scarf? cape?) similar to that worn by Jaal, glaring balefully at the screens as if daring them to give him more bad news. Jaal approaches the angara, and Ryder follows.**_

 **Jaal:** "Evfra, this is one of the aliens from the Milky Way –" _**Jaal pronounces the name as "meelkee wee**_ "—a Pathfinder."

Evfra: "Pathfinder." _**Evfra skin is light blue speckled with white, his voice is a growl, and as he turns to look at Scott, a long vertical scar running from the top of Evfra's head, across the brow of his left eye, and continuing down across his mouth until it ends at his chin becomes evident.**_ **Evfra:** "It's an aggressive move, coming to Aya."

 **Scott:** "Sorry about that. It wasn't that meant that way. We'd just run into a kett cruiser outside this system, and didn't exactly have time to-"

 **Evfra:** "Cruiser!? Where?"

 **Scott:** "Beyond the Scourge field. My pilot had to take my ship through the Scourge to escape. Don't worry, we left the kett on the other side, and all the fighters that tried to follow us were destroyed before we left the field."

 **Evfra to adjutants:** "Warn our scouts on the perimeter! Any activity is to be reported to me immediately."

 _ **The adjutants quickly begin tapping out commands on their consoles and setting about their task. Evfra breathes in deeply, and seems to settle himself before turning back to Scott.**_

 **Evfra** : "So, Pathfinder. Never mind how you even found us – why are you here?"

 **Scott:** "On a hostile planet called Eos, I explored an ancient structure – a "vault" – and brought it back online. It stabilized that planets environment."

 **Jaal:** ""Remnant." Recent intelligence supports that claim."

 **Scott:** "If I'm right, there's a vault on Aya that's different. I need to look inside.

 _ **Evfra is silent, considering, turns his back on Scott and moves to stand in front of a large bay window looking out over Aya's landscape.**_

 **Evfra:** "You're right. There's a "vault" out there, but it was shut years ago and the entrance hidden. We can't help you."

 **Jaal:** "The Moshae could. She's our most revered scientist and elder. She knows this vault."

 **Evfra:** "But now the kett have her," _**Evfra rounds and advances on Jaal, expression hard and uncompromising**_ "and our rescue attempts failed. She's lost to us. And you."

 **Scott:** "There must be another way. How can I convince you? Can I offer help?"

 _ **Evfra's eyes narrow. (Anger?)**_ **Evfra:** "Arrogant. I don't know you, let alone trust you, why would I want your help?

 **Scott:** "Because _I_ need your help. Your help to help my people. If your Intelligence is good enough that the Governor knows about how we crossed dark space, then you know about our mission and our composition. Multiple species, multiple backgrounds, and working together to make a new life here in Heleus, without getting into a fight with anybody over it. Only we ran into the Scourge and the kett, and frankly we're getting our asses kicked. Now, thousands of people are looking to me to find them a home before they starve to death."

"What I did on Eos won't save them. So I'm out here, looking for other options, willing to help, and I've got a ship and a crew. What could you do with an extra ship and a willing crew? What would you do?"

"Among my kind, we have an old saying: "The enemy of my enemy is my friend." And I don't know about you, or pretend to understand what's going on here, but you definitely enemies of the kett, and I am most definitely on the ketts shit list. So, can we be friends? Or… can we at least try? To get to know one another and find out if we can get along? And then maybe… we can help your… Moshae? And then… we'll see."

"We're not perfect. But we're not out to start a fight either. We're just… lost. And hurt and hungry and willing to do anything to survive… including walking right out of this building, going back to my ship, and never coming back, if that's what you want, or… putting myself – and my ship… at your disposal."

 _ **Evfra and Jaal stand, silent, staring at Scott. Scott's heart rate begins to climb, the physiological signatures of doubt and anxiety beginning to manifest.**_

 **Jaal:** "Evfra. I feel… Evfra, what this alien says is extraordinary." _ **Jaal comes closer to Evfra, staring into the other angara's face**_. **Jaal:** "The Moshae would want us to be brave and not let this chance pass."

 **Evfra:** "Jaal. You talk too much."

 **Jaal:** "Let me assess this alien. I'll be your eyes. I know you can spare me."

 _ **Evfra's expression might be described as (stony?) as if Jaal had just revealed information Evfra wanted kept hidden. However, by the twitching of his upper lip and nose, (in humans) would presage the advent of rage and disgust.**_

 **Evfra:** "Go if you want. But when he tries to kill you, be prepared to strike first."

 _ **Evfra storms away, leaving Scott and Jaal alone by the window.**_

 **Jaal:** I am Jaal Ama Darav. I will be your envoy through angaran space."

 **Scott:** "I'm grateful. Not many I can think of in your situation would go out on a limb like this for a complete stranger."

 **Jaal:** "Yes. But, I can always kill you in your sleep."

 **Scott:** "I wouldn't be so sure about that, but… thanks for the warning."

 _ **-{End of Incident Log.}-**_

…

 **Authors Notes: Okay, this chapter was a beast write, mostly because I was trying to translate everything through SAM's POV, who is also supposed to be experiencing the world through Scott. Also:**

 **+Determining how best to describe travel in the Andromeda Galaxy, especially since we're only operating in a "corner" of it, and what takes precedence.**

 **+The dimensions of the Tempest: length, breadth, width, depth. Etc.**

 **+Activity of Scourge and its reaction to ships (not to mention why it does that)**

 **+Working out what a "proper" preparations for a First Contact might entail.**

 **+Assessment of the Angara from the point of view of SAM observing through Scott, and drawing conclusions on the nature of people and the worlds based on those observations.**

 **Normal updates restart next week.**

 **As always, please: read, review, and enjoy! I always love hearing your thoughts.**


	29. Chapter 28

**Thoughts from Andromeda part 28**

By ElementalsAdvocate

…

 **Year 2819. 1648 Shipboard Time, Day 26 after Arrival. In Orbit around Planet Aya, Onaon System. Tempest, Pathfinders Cabin.**

…

 _ **Scott enters the cabin, takes off his coat and throws it on the bed before slumping onto the couch.**_

Thank you God for soft couches. I made it. I actually made it. Agh… _**Scott stretches and groans.**_ Ugghh… God… Agh! Jeez… Okay. SAM, **start recording.** I want to get this down before I forget anything.

Today has been… incredible. Terrifying, but still incredible. First the kett cruiser, then the planet, and the angara. The Angara! My God! I actually made First Contact with a genuine alien species. And nobody died! It's just… wow. Just… wow.

So much has happened in the last twelve hours. Yesterday, I was only thinking about the crew and their interactions and now… now I've got a genuine First Contact Envoy of an unknown alien species and what's more… he's a fucking guerilla. Or at least, that's what I get after talking with him, and then talking about him with the military types on board. He's… a little spooky, and confusing, and… a guerilla, or a commando. Don't really know what to call him, but he definitely dangerous. "I can always kill you in your sleep," he said.

Jeezus.

Okay Scott, back up and start from the beginning.

We were on the final approach to the Remnant Nav-point, when our long range scanners lit up like a fireworks show. Turns out- well, actually I forgot- that our IES stealth system doesn't work when we're traveling at FTL speeds. So when we were on approach to the Remnant vault, we were lit up like a Mardi gras float the whole time. Guess the kett were in the area and detected us coming into the system. I keep hearing that space is big, but you wouldn't know it, the way we keep up running from one crisis into another.

We got our first look at a kett capital ship today. The way we popped out of FTL right in front of it like that? Felt like a hare coming up nose-to-nose with an angry grizzly bear. SAM? Can I look at it down here?

 _{Of course.}_

 _ **A three-dimensional holographic scale model of the kett capital ship projects into the center of the cabin.**_

 _{Kett space-vessel, classification unknown. Length: 1.048 km. Width: 0.303 km.}_

Hunh. You know, looking at it like this, it almost looks like some kind of giant sea slug. A huge, heavily armored sea slug. Or maybe a lobster.

 _{An interesting analogy. Many of the systems detected within the vessel appear to mimic the natural systems of an organic life-form. However, more detailed scans will be required to support this hypothesis.}_

What about their armament? These tubes forward and aft? They sure look like cannon to me.

 _{Unknown. Scans detected multiple high-energy signatures in close proximity to the "tubes" consistent with hypothesized "plasma cannon" designs created by salarians STG 346 years ago. However, the project was scrapped due to prevalence of mass rail technology in the Milky Way, and extreme power needs comparable with a dreadnoughts drive core for each individual cannon mount.}_

So the kett have big guns _and_ power to spare. Lovely. What about the fighters? Where did they come from?

 _{Unknown. The fighters appear to be of the same type encountered by multiple As the system has proven to be interdicted by the Angara, and the Angara are enemies of the kett, it is unlikely that the kett have a presence in the system that could support short range fighters of this type. From the scans taken before our escape, the fighters showed little or no long range capabilities, most of their systems being geared toward speed, and mobility. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that the kett vessel carried them into the system.}_

So now they've not only got big guns and heavy armor, they've got fucking tie-fighters to back them up too? Are we dealing with the kett equivalent of Star Destroyers here?

 _{Tie fighters do not appear in my ready data base. Querying…}_

Star Wars,SAM. _Star Wars._ Look it up later. Ugh… Okay.

After we got away from the kett and assessed the situation, we needed to find someplace to land and make repairs. Luckily we were close to the source of the Remnant nav-point we got from Eos, and we headed for it as fast as we could without burning ourselves up. And… jeezus, I still can't get over it! A real alien civilization! The closest I've ever come to something that alien was the Citadel, and that was a hodge-podge of different styles. This was like… like walking through one of the old Caribbean towns; all open spaces, spaces open to the bare landscape, towering cliffs, plants everywhere, water everywhere. But the smell- phew! The smell was damn brick to the nose. Why the hell would they build so close to a volcano?

 _{Disruption from the gravity waves caused by the black hole at the center of the Heleus Cluster, combined with the large quantities of Scourge surrounding the system, makes the system an ideal hiding place from the kett. The large quantities of heat and gasses emitted by the volcano serve to effectively mask the emissions of the colony from long range scans. Consequently, it is extremely difficult to pinpoint the source of the Remnant signal from the vault on Aya, and would likely require a significant amount of time and effort to locate it.}_

Yeah, so what else is new? Don't answer that SAM, it was a rhetorical question.

First impressions are there, whether they're right or wrong, and my first impressions of the Angara were: they do not shit around when it comes to uninvited visitors. A dozen heavily armed security guards and five gunships for a small scout ship coming down almost in flames? But then again; considering we fell almost literally on the doorstep of their secret base, we're lucky they didn't blow us out of the sky as soon as we turned up.

As for the people? They're different. All different shapes and colors, but at least it's easy enough to tell males from females, though I haven't seen anything like kids. And that's weird. You'd think that if people are living here on Aya, and it's supposed to be a safe haven, then you'd think that there'd be kids running around. Unless someone saw us coming into the port and scooted the kids off somewhere safe. Away from the nasty, suspicious aliens in the crazy aliens.

Gah.

Soon as I came out and got through the first lines of defense, I got to briefly speak with a female angara called Governor Paaran Shie. That's the right term?

{It is the closest approximation provided by the translation software.}

So, they have some kind of command structure. That's something. And they've had contact with someone from the Milky Way, if they're using our translation software. Or their intelligence gathering and tech is really that good. Not sure which option makes me more worried.

When we first met, the Governor seemed to be the one in charge. But as soon as Jaal turned up, everything seemed to go a little side-ways.

Jaal. Jaal Ama Darav, he said his full name was. Guy walks up to me, looks me right in the eye, first thing, and asks me what I want. The presense of him, bigger than me, taller than me, covered in scars… His eyes… electric blue, black membranes, black pupil, slit like a cats.

I remember… When I was twelve, Dad took Sara and me out hiking in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, up near the cabin where he built his laboratory. It was the last time he took us out alone, just before Mom's disease started taking a turn for the worse. It was about mid-day, and we were trying to get to a little watering hole that Dad knew about so we could have lunch. We'd just come down a sandy draw, and Sara had run off ahead, and Dad followed. I just glanced around to look back the way we came… and there it was; A full grown cougar, standing in the middle of the draw less than twenty feet away from me. Sandy-brown fur, red nose, huge paws, and those eyes – vertical slits in a face that was never human. Hard, tense, waiting, assessing, predator considering potential prey… or a threat.

For what felt like a long time, I just stood there, frozen, locked up by fear. But – I remembered something that Dad always said about being in bad situations.

 _{"If you can't beat it, use it."}_

Yeah. That's the one. So I grabbed the ends of my jackets, yanked them up over my head to make myself look bigger, and yelled as loud as I could. I put all my fear into that yell. Later, Sara said it was like the scream of a monkey the size of an elephant that had just stepped on a nail.

 _{Your cry was probably amplified by the walls of the draw, creating an echo effect of the sound waves bouncing off hard surfaces.}_

Whatever it was, it scared off the cougar. I didn't stop yelling until Dad came running up behind me to find out why I was screaming my head off.

Course, when I met Jaal, I didn't scream. But I did stand up for myself. I don't know whether I impressed him or amused him or pissed him off, but I did make an impression. "Honesty would be a good start." Heh.

SAM. Can you bring up what Jaal's exact words were, back when he met me in the HQ? About the kett?

 _{Jaal: "When the Archon came to Heleus, he demolished our sovereign state – took what he wanted, as if we were nothing. Now, the kett mercilessly abduct angara. Often, we never see our people again."}_

The Archon… what does that translate to in English?

 _{Unknown. While it is clearly a title, Archon may mean many things depending upon the context. For now, it is logical to assume that this "Archon" is ultimately in charge of all the kett currently in the Heleus Cluster, if not all kett in the Andromeda Galaxy. More information will be required to determine exactly who this Archon is and what his position truly is within kett society.}_

Yeah, well, make a note of the name and send it to Kandros and Tann. They should know the name of the person sending people to abduct and kill us.

Then there's Evfra, the leader of the Angaran Resistance. The guy is… a puzzle. He dresses like a lot of the other civilian males I saw, but he's clearly got some serious authority among the Angara if someone with the title of Governor is deferring to him in a First Contact Scenario. No title though, at least no title we know about yet. He's just "the leader of the Resistance". SAM, what was it Evfra said as we came in the room?

 _{Evfra: "Kadara be damned. I won't lose Voeld."}_

Kadara and Voeld. Could those be place names? Other planets that the Angara control?

 _{A definite possibility, Pathfinder.}_

So, the Angara have a presence on at least three worlds, and have control one completely. That's something. I don't know what but it's something. Means that there are other worlds out there worth fighting for. That's good. That's _really_ good for us. Means if we can provide some kind of aid to the Angara, they might let us set up some outposts, take some of the pressure off the Nexus. That would be really good.

Anyway. It would take too long for me to talk about everything that I saw down there. The clothes, the weapons, the buildings, the people, not to mention the fact that most of its probably nothing bus speculation on my part. Okay, **executive summary** :

The Angara are natives of Andromeda, and the Heleus Cluster in particular. They've been here long enough to build a pretty advanced civilization (advanced enough to build interplanetary space-craft) and for the last eighty years or so have been under attack from the kett. Somehow they've managed to They're not pleased that the Initiative is here, but they're curious enough about us to send an envoy in Jaal to observe us and relay his findings to his superior, Evfra, who I guess will make a decision on how to interact with us based on Jaals findings **. Summary end.**

SAM, add that to whatever has already been sent back to the Nexus, put it in priority to all the Directors.

 _{And Superintendant Kesh?}_

Of course.

 _{As you wish, Pathfinder.}_

I need to head back out soon. Cora's giving Jaal the grand tour right now, and we need to have a meeting about the new member of our little flying circus and what our next move is going to be. SAM, **end recording** , and tell everyone not currently occupied to come up to the Meeting Room.

 _{As you wish Pathfinder. Logging you out.}_

…

 **Authors Notes: Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Apologies for the late update. Cold weather has left me lagged, and I've been running my mind in rings trying to flesh out angaran society and culture. As always: read, review, and enjoy.**


	30. Chapter 29

**Thoughts from Andromeda Chapter 29**

By ElementalsAdvocate

…

 **Year 2819. Day 26 after Arrival. On Route to Planet Havaarl, Faroang System , from Planet Aya, Onaon System. Tempest, Pathfinders Cabin, 17:30 Shipboard Time.**

…

 _ **Scott enters the cabin, walks slowly across to one of the cabinets on the port side, opens it, and pulls out a heavy bottle and a shot glass. He closes the cabinet door, carries the glass and the bottle to the couch and coffee table, and pours himself a measure of green liquid from the bottle into the glass and taking a sip before sitting back down on the couch with a sigh.**_

SAM, **start recording.**

Well, we're off again. No one is particularly pleased to be leaving Aya so soon, but at least we're leaving under our own power. Gil looks like he stood next to an open oven; got to give him credit for saving our butts when it counted.

Things are… a little strained right now. The crew was expecting to get some shore time, and after getting keyed up and excited from running into the Kett, almost getting captured by the kett, running from the kett through a damn Scourge field, and then almost crash landing on top of a god-damn paradise with an actually alien civilization alive and present, and all they get to do is sit tight inside the ship while I get dragged off to make First Contact. And then we leave without allowing them so much as a breath of fresh air. Although, the air around Aya wasn't exactly fresh. Still.

Now we're leaving with more questions than answers. We now know that there is more in the Andromeda Galaxy than the Kett and the Remnant, but the Angara don't seem particularly interested in giving us any answers, yet.

SAM?

 _{Yes Pathfinder?}_

Would you play back the meeting? On the terminal, please. _**Scott rises from the couch and sits down at the desk on the starboard side, turning on the computer terminal with a click.**_

 _{Accessing relevant data logs. Tempest Meeting Room,16:58 Shipboard Time, Present Day.}_

…

 _ **Drack, Peebee, Vetra, Cora, Liam, and Jaal are present in the Meeting Room. Jaal is sitting on one of the couches lining the room, Cora and Vetra are speaking quietly together, Liam is trying to talk to Jaal, Peebee is looking out one of the windows at the Planet Aya, bouncing distractedly on the balls of her feet, and Drack is sitting on the other side of the room, watching everybody else.**_

 _ **Scott walks up the port-side ramp and takes in the room at a glance.**_

 **Scott:** "Where are the others?"

 **Cora:** "Kallo and Gil are working on repairing the last of the Scourge damage, and Doctors Anwar and T'Perro are working on a report on Aya's ecosystem from the data we gathered for the Scientists on the Nexus."

 **Scott:** "Alright then, no sense in waiting around. Everyone's met our guest?"

 _ **Nod's from Liam, Peebee, and Vetra. Drack grunts. Jaal remains where is, sitting with his back to one of the panoramic windows of the room looking out through space and the planet Aya beyond.**_

 **Scott:** "Okay everyone, lets get started with-"

 **Kallo:** **["Ryder, QEC communication coming in! It's the Directors."]**

 **Scott:** "Put them through." _**Scott motions everyone to one side of the table before activating the quantum entanglement communicator set into the conference table.**_

 _ **The dim, holographical forms of the Initiative directors fuzz into being on the clear side of the table, Tann in the middle, with Kandros and Addison flanking him on either side.**_

 **Tann:** "Pathfinder. We've read SAMs report. What is the situation?"

 **Scott:** "The situation is stable, Director. We've just left Aya, and we were just about to-"

 **Addison:** "Left!" _**Director Addison exclaimed and leaned forward over the table.**_ "Left! Why would you leave? Do you have any idea how important this is? Meeting an advanced, undiscovered alien civilization was one of the hallmarks of the Initiaitive to begin with, never mind the chance to acquire more supplies and aid-"

 **Scott:** "Respectfully Director Addison, the Angara in the middle of a war with the Kett. They likely don't have the time or the resources to spend on helping shore up the Nexus."

 **Addison:** "There has to be something. According to SAM's report, this planet of Aya has an abundance of liquid water. A diplomatic team could surely arrange-"but the Director was interrupted again.

 **Scott:** "Director, maybe you didn't read our reports as thoroughly as you think, otherwise you'd know that the Angara aren't interested in listening to diplomatic overtures at this time. I have it on good authority that the Angara will not listen to us, so long as we remain strangers. They are not going to believe anything we say, Directors, until we show the Angara by our actions. Our actions, Directors, not words.

 _ **Tann sniffs loudly and blinks his large, frog-like eyes.**_ **Tann:** "Yes, that's all well and good. However, your report failed to mention when exactly this angaran observer was to arrive."

 _ **Scott barely holds back a wince.**_ **Scott:** "Directors, he's right here. On this ship. In this room, in fact. Listening to everything we say."

 **Tann:** "Ah. Now we're getting somewhere. Allow me, as Director of the Andromeda Initiative, to formally greet our guest in a spirit of friendship."

 _ **Jaal remains stanchly silent in his seat on the edge of the room.**_

 **Scott:** "Jaal? Do you want to speak to the Directors?"

 _ **Jaal remained silent for another moment, until –**_

 **Jaal:** "Not yet." Jaal said simply, and leaned back, nestling deeper into couch cushions.

 **Scott:** "He says he doesn't want to speak with you yet, Directors."

Ha!

 _ **Tann:**_ "As you wish. Now, Pathfinder, as to your next assignment-"

 **Scott:** "Directors, I haven't actually decided that we need to come back to the Nexus. We still have plenty of supplies, and Jaal can get up to speed on the Initiatives best and brightest right here on the Tempest. Returning to the Nexus when we've only just begun might be… premature."

 _ **Director Tann considers this.**_ **Tann:** "Very well, Pathfinder. Contact us as soon as you have made your decision. Nexus out."

 _ **The director's signal cuts off, and their holographic projections disappear.**_

 **Cora:** "That went better than I expected."

 **Liam:** "Oh yeah? How?"

 **Cora:** "I'm just saying as far as first contact's go at least that one went better than the last one."

 **Liam:** "Tsk, only slightly."

 **Peebee:** "Yeah! What happened? I wanted to look around!"

 **Drack:** "And now we have another mouth to feed - whatever he eats."

 **Scott:** "Okay, everybody just simmer down! I know we were all looking forward to some big miracle that'll solve all our problems, but let's be realistic here: This is Andromeda people! She isn't going to give up her secrets that easily. Let's count our blessings, and move on."

 **Vetra:** "Yeah, except for the part where we come away with nothing to show for the fuel we expended."

 **Cora:** "Ryder, she has a point. We followed our best lead here, and now we don't even have that."

 **Scott:** "Last time I checked, our mission was the same: find a home for the people on the Nexus. That hasn't changed. We still have a ship, and we still have a Pathfinder. So as I see it, the plan hasn't changed. We're out here to explore, so we'll explore. This isn't an end; it's just a detour."

 **Vetra:** "So what do we do now? Where are we going?"

 **Scott:** "While I was on Aya, Jaal gave me some interesting information on the nature of the kett's presence here in the Cluster. Jaal?" _**Scott turns and looks at the seated angara, facing him directly and clearly indicating that the alien had the floor.**_

 _ **Jaal remains where he is for several moments, analyzing the faces around him through his haptic eye-piece. Suddenly he rises from his seat and speaks, advancing to the table as he does.**_

 **Jaal:** "One day, about eighty years ago, the Archon and the kett arrived in Heleus, and the horror began."

 **Vetra:** "They declared war?"

 **Jaal:** "Nothing so easy to define or fight."

 **Scott:** "The kett kidnap angara – their people disappear without a trace. What if that was us? Hell, it almost was us."

 **Drack:** "Sure, I'll fight kett all day long- but that's no plan."

 **Peebee:** "I agree. We need to get into that Vault, Ryder."

 **Cora:** "Surprisingly, I'm with Peebee. Our own mission has to take priority."

 **Scott:** "The Angara are not going to allow complete strangers go wandering around their secret planet, looking for a Remnant vault and sticking their noses into who knows what! Not, at least, before getting to know us a little better. That's why Jaal's here: to see us in action. As I said, the mission is the same, the plan is the same. Jaal, as the local expert, would you care to recommend a heading?"

 _ **Jaal nods, pulls out a small device from his belt and activates it, uploading a series of files to me.**_

 _ **RECEIVING FILES. QUARANTINING FILES. OPENING FILES. TRANSLATING. SCANNING… NO MALICIOUS CODE DISCOVERED. UPLOADING DATA INTO CONFERENCE CONSOLES AND HOLOGRAPHIC MATRIX…**_

 _ **The holographic representation of two planets are projected above the conference table; one completely locked in ice, the other showing a variety of geographic temperate zones and large bodies of open water.**_

 **Jaal:** "The Resistance is stretched thin. I was tasked with traveling to two of our worlds at our briefing this morning – before your arrival – and now, you will accompany me."

 **Liam:** "Because…?"

 **Jaal:** "Because then Evfra will see you as trustworthy. You want that. This," _**Jaal indicates the ice-covered planet,**_ "is Voeld. Before the Scourge disaster, Voeld was a thriving planet of billions, a shining center of technology and life."

 **Vetra:** "And now?"

 **Jaal:** "It's the center of our ground war against the kett. Our Resistance base is fighting Kett Command for control of the planet."

 **Cora:** "What about the other?"

 **Jaal:** "The other is Havaarl. Havaarl is the birthplace of the angara. It's started to degrade, to become wild and dangerous. We suspect Remnant."

 **Peebee:** "Now we're talking!"

 **Jaal:** "We've recently lost contact with a team of our scientists, investigating the Remnant connection."

 **Drack:** "Still don't see how any of this helps us."

 **Cora:** "I do. "Help us – or rather, _help me_ –and I'll vouch for you," right? Because Jaal wants inside Aya's vault, too.

 **Vetra:** "The coordinates for these worlds: they're way off the beaten track from anything the Initiative has mapped so far. Either one we go to, we won't be able to hit them both before needing to resupply."

 **Drack:** "I'm itching for a good dust-up, and I'm no stranger to cold."

 **Peebee:** "Remnant!"

 **Cora:** "It's your call, Pathfinder."

 _ **Scott remains silent for several moments, staring hard at the two holographic worlds hanging in the air over the table. Finally, he nods decisively.**_ **Scott:** "Nothing to think about. We're not prepared for a war-zone, or an ice-ball. But Remnant? Remnant we can deal with. SAM, plot a course for Havaarl, and send it to Kallo to verify. I'll inform the Directors." _**Scott looks around the table.**_ "We can do this people. This isn't an end. It's one step closer to home. Remember that."

 _ **Scott turns and exits the conference room.**_

…

 _{Recording end.}_

…Don't think about it, Scott. Don't think about it.

 _{Pardon?}_

Nothing SAM. Just… God! I feel like such a fool. Everything that's happened today is absolutely fucking insane and yet… here we are. I didn't even know what I was doing half the time.

{Speaking as an objective observer, you seem to be doing perfectly fine. After you left,

 _ **Scott gulps down the last of the liquid in his glass.**_ Guess I'd better call the Directors before one of them tries to pull a forced march on the Angara. If Addison and Evfra go head to head… or worse, if Tann tries to lay on the charm-

 _{Sparks, Scott?}_

Exactly SAM. _**Scott stands and goes to the cabins Pathfinder Console, facing the panoramic forward window.**_

 _{The Directors are ready.}_

Do it.

 _ **The star-scape of space and the tendrils of Scourge surrounding Aya disappear from the window, replaced by a live-feed of the Pathfinder HQ on the Nexus. The three directors face Scott across the conference and communication table.**_

 **Tann:** "Pathfinder."

 **Scott:** "Directors. The Angaran Envoy has provided us with the coordinates to a couple of worlds where he has stuff to do for the Resistance. My intention is to convey Jaal to these worlds and provide aid if needed."

 _ **Kandros:**_ "I assume you are following the proper security protocols in regard to First Contact scenarios?"

 _ **Scott hesitates.**_ **Scott:** "Director Kandros, honestly, I'm still getting up to speed on the protocol, but frankly and respectfully: the Tempest is a small ship with not a lot of room. We don't have any state rooms or diplomatic quarters for visiting dignitaries. Every bit of space is in use right now, and we can't lock-up the envoy of a sovereign alien nation in a crate in the cargo-bay."

 **Kandros:** "Nevertheless; you should take steps to limit this envoys access to the Tempests systems-"

 **Addison:** "-And ruin an already fragile diplomatic situation. Leave it alone, Tiran. I want to know more about these other worlds."

 **Scott:** "SAM?"

 _{Sending the data now.}_

 _ **The images and details of Havaarl and Voeld appear above the HQ conference table, and the Directors quickly assimilate the data provided.**_

 **Addison:** "My god. It's more than we could have dreamed of. If we could convince the Angara to allow us to set up an outpost on even one of these worlds…"

 **Tann:** "Don't count your chickens before they're hatched, Director. We haven't even had a chance to speak the angaran envoy yet. However; Pathfinder, do you believe that the angara would allow the Initiative to set up an outpost on one of their worlds?"

 **Scott:** "I… believe that anything is possible, Director. But I don't see it happening any time soon. That's why I've decided to head to planet Havaarl first."

 **Tann:** "The angaran homeworld? Not their capital?

 **Kandros:** "The capital that is currently a frozen war-zone, Director. Considering the Pathfinder's recent encounter with the kett and their apparent interest, I would feel much better if he didn't run into the kett again any time soon."

 **Tann:** "Yes, that would be better. However, that still doesn't solve the problem that the Pathfinder set out solve in the first place, which is the key to the Remnant. So, what is your plan, Ryder?"

 **Scott:** "The Angara aren't going to allow us to go looking for the Vault on Aya without knowing they can trust us not to stab them in the back. By traveling with Jaal and helping him complete missions for the Resistance against the kett, we'll hopefully be able to earn their leaderships trust so they'll let us look. Meanwhile, Havaarl is supposed to be the birthplace of the Angara. If we make a good enough impression there, maybe we can skip the war-zone and get straight to hunting for the vault on Aya."

 **Addison:** "Or open up to trade and diplomatic ventures."

 **Tann:** "Indeed. Very well then Pathfinder. You have our permission to proceed. However, I must emphasize that you are not to jeopardize the security of the Initiative. I suggest you acquaint yourself more fully with the security protocols in regard to these situations and act accordingly. Otherwise, you are to make every effort to secure good relations with the angara, with the goal of securing colonization or trade for the Nexus."

 **Scott:** "Of course. Now, my plan is to take as straight a course as possible to Havaarl, mapping the star-systems as we go."

 **Addison:** "Didn't the angara provide you with maps with the planetary data?"

 **Scott:** "No, Director, and while it would be helpful, I'd still take the time to map as we go, just so we have a means of personal reference against whatever the Angara eventually give us. We want them to know they can trust us. Let's start by showing them they can trust us not to be stupid."

 **Kandros:** "Ha!"

 _ **Director Tann sniffs audibly.**_ **Tann:** "Very well, Pathfinder. However, I want to see daily reports on your progress, as well as any observations of this Jaal Ama Darav from you and your officers. Keep us informed. Nexus out."

 _ **The image of the Pathfinder HQ disappears. Scott scowls at star-scape beyond the window.**_

"Daily reports and observations," he says. As if we don't have enough to deal with right now. Scott sighs. Well, I guess I'd better start on the security protocols right away. Where's Jaal now?

 _{Jaal is currently setting up an inflatable mattress in the Tech Lab.}_

Why the Hell is he doing that?

 _{I believe he intends to sleep there. The Tech Lab is currently not in use, as we handed all of the finds recovered from Eos to the engineers on the Nexus, and we have thus far recovered nothing else that require its use. The Tech Lab utilizes many of the same safety features as the Bio Lab, and while our guest will have privacy, he will not be able to perform any action that might be detrimental to the ship or the crew without our knowing.}_

And Cora?

 _{Lieutenant Harper made no objection after I informed her.}_

Okay then, I guess we've got our bases covered. Still, someone should be assigned to watch Jaal.

 _{May I suggest Mr. Kosta? He has expressed an avid interest in our guest, and with his background in law-enforcement, he should be able to watch out for anything untoward.}_

Good idea. I'll go see Cora and Liam after… after-

 _ **Scott breaks off speaking as he gives a leonine yawn.**_ Jeez I'm tired. Well, no rest for the weary. Let's hope the next few days aren't as hair-raising as this one.

Oh, and one more thing. The meeting room is now The Veranda. Sick and tired of the meeting room being The Meeting Room.

 _{Veranda…? Appropriate, I suppose.}_

Glad you agree, SAM.

 _{Pulling up the relevant protocols, Pathfinder.}_

 _ **{End recording.}**_

…

 **Authors Note: 30 Entries Done! No, I'm not dead. Apologies for the wait. Thanks to everyone who kept watching. It's going to be a long and wandering road yet, but we'll get where we're going in the end. Let me know what you think of Scott's reactions. As always: read, review, and enjoy!**


	31. Chapter 30

**Thoughts from Andromeda part 30**

By ElementalsAdvocate

…

 **Year 2819. Shipboard Time: 10:34, Day 28 after Arrival. En route to Planet Havaarl. Tempest, Pathfinders Cabin.**

…

 _ **Scott limps into the cabin, holding an ice pack against his head.**_

 **SAM, note to self:**

 _{Recording}_

Never challenge a bored fourteen-hundred year old krogan mercenary to a sparring match. It won't end well.

 _{Would you please explain in your own words?}_

Why would I explain? If I understand this Pathfinder thing correctly, you saw the whole thing.

 _{For the record, and my own understanding?}_

… Sure. Why not? _**Scott sits down on the bed, and gingerly moves the ice pack to his lower back before beginning.**_

It's been two days since we left Aya, and four days since we left the Nexus. Since we got to Andromeda, that's the longest we've been cooped up on board the Tempest, and we've got at least another two days to go before we get to the Angaran homeworld. And since our new guest has been locked up in the Tech Lab pouring over the Initiative's First Contact Files for most of that time, everyone's feeling a little antsy. So, when Cora suggested that we get in some sparring practice, I said yes.

We dragged a couple of mats out of storage and set up in the cargo bay. With the Nomad in there things were still a little cramped but we managed. Liam joined us, and we started: two sparring on the mats, the other spotting to make sure no one got too hurt.

From the start, Cora dominated over me and Liam. Her commando training showing through, I guess. Liam got in a couple of good hits, but he's a cop, not a trained soldier. Most of what he knew was holds and blows to incapacitate, not kill. I did alright, but Cora… she's something else.

Anyway, Drack came by and started watching from one of the gantries. Started making comments too. Like "If that's all it takes to put a human down, I'm amazed the turians didn't wipe you out in days." Or "You call that a punch? I've seen stunned pyjaks hit harder than that."

I should have just kept my mouth shut. But, I figured that since the old krogan was as bored as the rest of us and just needed an outlet, so I invited him down to join us. Really stupid mistake.

Soon as we start sparring, it's already over. Drack knows every trick, every move, every blow. Between his experience and the fact hes a fucking krogan with a hide like an arroyo's bottom, everything we did had no effect on him, and he's still talking smack through the whole thing, giving us little cuffs and pats.

Finally, I got so fed up that I broke the cardinal rule for sparring: don't use your biotics on a none biotic. Drack punches, I grab his arm, flare my biotics to shoulder throw the old geezer into the wall… and I wake up in the med-bay feeling like I'd gotten smacked by a mountain.

 _{Krogan warlords have been recorded using their hammers with force comparable to getting hit by a bus traveling at 123 miles per hour. Though Drack is not a warlord, having seen him use his hammer in battle with kett, I can safely say that he was "going easy" on you.}_

You mean… what? He swung me like a war hammer?

 _{Comparable. He likely realized you were going to use your biotics, and planned accordingly. As soon as you began the throw, he lifted you over his head and, arm extended and you still hanging on to his arm, slammed you into the mat.}_

Jeezus… I'm lucky he didn't cave my skull right in.

 _{I believe luck had very little to do with it. Considering the baseline abilities of krogan in combat, combined with the already considerable skills shown by Urdnot Drack already, it can easily be inferred that Urdnot Drack could easily-}_

Okay! SAM, okay! I get it! He was- ow! Oh… _**Scott groans and puts the ice pack back on his forehead.**_

Okay, where was I?

 _{The Med-bay.}_

Woke up in the med-bay, feeling bad, and I look one way, and there's Drack, staring down at me. Long story short, he said that he was impressed that I wasn't dead, but that I clearly needed more training if I couldn't take a little fall like that. Then Cora started yelling at him, and Lexi shoved them both out of the bay.

Now, I've got a headache and a backache, and aches everywhere else to lesser degrees, and I can look forward to getting pounded on by an asari commando wanna-be and an ancient krogan merc with a sense of humor.

Jeezus. How could this get any-

 **[Ryder?]**

What the-? _**Scott jerks up in bed and immediately swears as pain erupts from his lower back.**_

 **[Ryder, can you hear me?]**

 _{Pathfinder, Jaal is attempting to gain access to this cabin. Shall I allow him to enter?}_

Jeesuz yes, SAM! But- ow! _**Scott carefully leans back and moves the ice-pack to his lower back.**_ Maybe give me a few minutes? I think I might of pulled something.

 _{Of course Scott. Logging you out}_

…


	32. Chapter 31

**Thoughts from Andromeda part 30**

By ElementalsAdvocate

…

 **Year 2819. Shipboard Time 20:39, Day 31 after Arrival. En route to Planet Havaarl. Tempest, Pathfinders Cabin.**

…

SAM, **start recording.**

We should arrive at Havaarl tomorrow. It's been a… interesting week. Everybody's been pretty tense. Vetra keeps checking and rechecking our gear. Liam's locked himself in the cargo-bay watching old vids. Peebee keeps prowling around, poking into everything. Drack's been sleeping most of the day up in the Veranda with that shotgun over his knee and a bottle in one hand, don't know what it is. Kallo and Gil have been sniping at each other over the comms again. And Cora keeps coming up to the Bridge to ask about our course. The only ones who seem unaffected by the atmosphere are Suvi and Lexi. Suvi's been busy with SAM adding to our star charts, and Lexi keeps going around with that asari grace. Ugh. Hopefully once we hit planet-side everybody will loosen up.

Jaal's opened up a little, especially since I introduced him to the pleasures of chocolate. God, Sara's going to kill me when she finds out; she is the ultimate chocolate fiend. Even before we joined the Alliance, she always kept a stash of chocolate close by, and guarded it like a dragon's horde.

Heh. Once, I snuck a few pieces out of her stash just to mess with her, and when she found out, she loaded a water-pistol with ice water and chased me around the apartment, screaming like a banshee and swearing ever-lasting vengeance. She only stopped after I returned the chocolates, and after Mom came in and issued one of her "ultimatums".

Anyway, Jaal really liked the chocolate, and he even let me try some of his nutrient paste. Stuff isn't bad but, it's just… unimaginative. The way the food in marine basic training was unimaginative. It's got the texture and consistency of jelly, loaded with everything a person needs to survive and that's about it. Didn't taste bad, though. Kind of like an overripe mango mixed with oat dust. Ick.

After that, Jaal started popping up all over the ship, asking questions about everything. Vetra took him through the basics of our mass-rail tech, and Jaal gave Vetra some pointers on understanding the kett weapons we picked up on Eos. He spent hours with Liam and Gil while they did maintenance on the Nomad. I've seen him up on the bridge, observing. And once, I saw him up on the Veranda, having a Q and A session with Suvi and Lexi on Milky Way xenobiology. All I could contribute was a few comments on the human coccyx and some personal observations on biotics.

I also caught him having a strange conversation with Peebee in her den outside the escape pods. Jaal would ask a question on the Remnant or the Asari or Biotics or the Milky Way in general, and Peebee would fire a question or a comment right back, all while keeping her eyes focused entirely on the lump of Rem-Tech in front of her, tapping away on a console with one hand, and dipping into an open box of Blast-O's with the other hand.

About the only ones Jaal seems to steer clear of are Drack and Cora. Drack said that Jaal reminds him of a member of the Turian Deathwatch that nearly killed him after the Krogan Rebellions. On the first day, Drack told me that if Jaal needed to be killed, he should be killed quickly, as in soon, before he got too familiar with the Tempest.

Cora's very cautious about Jaal, and while she gets that we need to act honestly for a potential ally, she does not approve of how open most everyone has been with the newest member of our little group.I can't argue with her reasoning, but… I don't know.

Jaal is just… alien. A mystery. He's not a mountain to climb or a desert to cross or a planet to explore. He's a person. A strange person. A scary person. But a person nonetheless. And I have to build on whatever rapport we've got, if the Angara is going to be able to see the Initiative as more than a potential enemy.

Part of what makes Jaal so alien is the way he talks. One moment, he's cagey as an Intelligence operative, the next he's spouting off- well. SAM?

 _{Uploading the relevant data log:}_

…

" _ **Hold it. You came in with questions for me. Now I've got some questions for you."**_

 _ **Jaal halted, back turned to Scott, considering. Then he nodded and turned back around. "Ask."**_

" _ **We haven't really had a chance to talk alone. Are you comfortable in the Tech Lab?"**_

 _ **Jaal shrugged. "I took it. It feels strange to stay with the others. They're – you're – aliens."**_

" _ **And you're alien to us." Scott smirked. "Guess that gives us one thing in common."**_

 _ **Jaal coughed. "We can… look at it as a place to start." Then the angara seemed to rally. "Perhaps then, if we're all aliens, it's about what kind of alien we are."**_

" _ **You had no idea about us… but you signed up to help us anyway."**_

" _ **Perhaps it had nothing to do with you."**_

" _ **Care to elaborate?"**_

" _ **I do not."**_

" _ **So…" Scott trailed off, staring intently at Jaal face, "who, exactly, is Moshae Sjefa, and how do you know her? The way Evfra talked, it seems like she was… someone special?"**_

" _ **She's our greatest mind on the Remnant." Jaal answered promptly, now apparently on solid ground. "I was her student."**_

" _ **You studied the Remnant too?" Well, that explained why Jaal would be interested in Scott.**_

 _ **Jaal snorted. "A little. I was terrible. I quit. Or, she threw me out. One of those." Jaal made soft chuckling sound, as if in wishful recrimination. "We're still very close."**_

" _ **So, Evfra wasn't wrong about this being personal for you?"**_

 _ **Jaal gave Scott flat, hard look. "Very personal," the angara growled.**_

 _ **Scott desperately looked for a way to change the subject. "So… is that your rifle?"**_

" _ **It is now. It's kett. With my own modifications. I like to tinker – to get my hands on something and take it apart."**_

" _ **Hmm, Tech Lab sounds like the perfect place for you then. But I have one request: Please don't take apart my ship."**_

 _ **Jaal chuckled, a sound that first went through his nose and then dropped down into his chest. "You're right. I signed up – volunteered – for this. It's… exciting. There's something unique about you – raw, uneasy – but somehow profound."**_

"… _ **What?"**_

 _ **Jaal stared quizzically at Scott's stunned expression. "Is there a problem?"**_

" _ **Well, it's just- I've been called a lot of things in my life but "profound" was never one of them. Was that a… compliment?"**_

" _ **It is. Angara feel deeply. We have more trouble hiding our emotions than keeping them." Then Jaal seemed to catch himself, as if he had revealed something he had meant to show. "I should get back to my work."**_

" _ **Right. Um… thanks for talking. If you need anything, just let me know."**_

…

Profound. Jaal comes right out and says he'll kill me in my sleep if I double-cross him, and then comes out and calls me raw, uneasy, and profound… what is that? And having trouble hiding his emotions?

 _ **Scott takes a deep breath and lets it out in a sigh.**_ K-I-S-S. Keep it simple, Scott. Don't overthink it, don't get bogged down by it. Just focus on the mission.

Tomorrows a big day. Wish me luck.

SAM, **stop recording.**

…

SAM?

 _{Yes Scott?}_

Do you think I'm profound?

 _{Is that a rhetorical question?}_

No. I genuinely want your opinion.

 _{Then, yes.}_

Why?

 _{Consider our unique situation: You are untested, untried, and carrying the culmination of Alec's AI research, bearing a burden that you never expected to carry so soon. You are facing insurmountable challenges, and yet, you keep moving forward. You have not given up. You have not turned aside. You have provided those around you and those who look to you with "hope" and "determination" and "purpose" even going so far as to convince a member of a new species to stand up for you and take a chance on us.}_

Jaal has reasons of his own. He's said as much.

 _{Nevertheless. I do not believe that Alec would have passed me onto you, if he did not think that you would fulfill the duties of a Pathfinder.}_

And that makes me "profound", hunh?

 _{In a word: yes.}_

Well, if my very own guardian angel says it, it must be true. I'm going to be SAM. Good night.

 _(Good night Scott.}_

…

 **Authors Notes: Hello everyone, I'm back, after three weeks long and arduous slog through the Bogs of Detail and the Mires of Fancy. Finally I realized I was going nowhere and put the whole thing I was writing aside, and then banged this chapter out in the space of an afternoon. Go figure. Next chapter up on Tuesday, promise!**


	33. Chapter 32

**Thoughts from Andromeda part 32**

By ElementalsAdvocate

…

 **Year 2819. Shipboard Time 19:39, Day 32 after Arrival. Andromeda Galaxy, Heleus Cluster, Faroang System, Planet Havaarl, Daar Pelaav. Tempest, Pathfinders Cabin.**

…

SAM, **start recording.**

Well, I said that Havaarl would be interesting. Damn if it didn't deliver. Giant flying manta-rays, jungles overgrowing a ruined alien civilization, and Remnant coming out of the wazoo? And that's all on day one.

Havaarl is technically a moon, as it orbits a large gas giant. But, it's also a garden world. It actually looks a lot like Earth from orbit, though the continents are a lot more strung out and closer together, and the oceans are smaller.

Our destination was a research outpost called Daar Pelaav, located just outside some Remnant ruins at the base of a line of mountains overlooking a huge river basin, the basin almost half the size of the Amazon River Delta back on Earth. According to Jaal, the outpost used to be a lot larger, but after the plants and animals started to go crazy, most of the planet had to be abandoned. I needed Suvi to explain that one to me.

Basically, the short of it is the angara couldn't trust their own food supplies on Havaarl. The ecological disaster that the Remnant devices couldn't stop on Eos due to the Scourge, well, this time the Remnant is probably to blame for Havaarl's situation. Plants and animals end up mutating on Havaarl; first only in small ways, but the level of mutation is getting more and more pronounced over time. According to Suvi, the "cascading levels of mutations and unsustainable growth" means that the planets flora and fauna have gone schizophrenic. For example, a favorite fruit, grown on Havaarl, could mutate into a deadly poison almost overnight. Fluffy bunnies end up with tusks and scales and a hunger for meat in a few generations.

Ugh, now that's a pretty thought.

Of course, the whole thing was an oversimplification of the actual problem, but Suvi did get the point across. Bottom line: the angara couldn't fight a war with the kett and the planet at the same time, so most of the population left Havaarl. The remaining angara are either the serious hold-outs, trading salvage and minerals for processed food from Aya, or researchers like those in Daar Pelaav trying to figure out how to fix the planet.

Flying into the outpost… I got a bit of a shock, and my first real sense that we were actually on a truly alien world. As soon as we got below the clouds, everything outside just went dim and dark. That spot on the planet was heading into the night cycle, so I understood what was going on in my head. But still. We flew past spiky mountains, rising like cats claws to tear at the purple bruised sky. That's when Kallo noticed something coming up on sensors. A few moments later, we saw them. Giant manta rays, dozens of them, flying- no, soaring over the tops of the mountains, all coming in our general direction. As we flew past, I got a good look at them. The largest of them was over thirty meters long, according to our instruments, and they undulated through the sky on enormous fin-like bladders, mouths (I think) agape. Totally blew me away, and if I had been at the helm instead of Kallo, I'm pretty sure I would have run us clean into a mountain before I came out of my shock.

A few minutes later, we reached Daar Pelaav. We landed on a pad about half a kilometer from the outpost. When I went down to the cargo bay, my whole team was down there getting ready, and then we ran into a problem.

See, according to the scans we'd taken on our approach, the ground in and around the Remnant ruins was extremely broken, meaning that taking the Nomad was out. The Nomad was designed for gulping down wide-open spaces like the plains of Eos, not bumbling and bumping through jungle ruins. So, we'd have to go in on foot, at least as far as the outpost to get the latest news on the lost researchers. And everybody wanted to come on the trip.

Jaal and Peebee had to go, I knew that. Our angara contact and our Remnant expert, it was a given for this mission. But the others? Somebody had to stay behind to watch the ship. I mean, we had Kallo and Suvi and Gil and Lexi, but they were all civilian experts. Not one of them, except maybe Lexi, had picked up a gun in their lives.

Vetra was the one who volunteered to stay behind. Said she "never liked jungles anyway." At that, Cora volunteered to stay and give Vetra some company.

That finally settled we headed off to the settlement; Jaal in the lead, I right behind him, Liam, Peebee, and Drack bringing up the rear.

That walk to the outpost was… eerie. The atmosphere was a nitrogen oxygen mix, but even so, I'd ordered everybody to put helmets on, or in Peebee case, a face mask. (I'd tried convincing her get some proper gear, but she'd shrugged me off, citing her status as a civilian, and perfectly comfortable in her own clothes Thank-You-Very-Much.)

With my helmet on, some of the noises going on around us were cut out, and even when I popped my seals, the sounds were… muted, except for the distant howling calls of the flying manta's we'd seen on our approach. For all the plant life we could see, trees and ferns of luminous blue and purple, nothing living moved, though I did pick out plenty of life-signs on my HUD. It was pretty dim and cool, and when I asked Jaal why, he said that Havaarl went through regular periods of darkness and cold when it was crossing behind the gas giant and out of the suns light. That's why the plants

We followed a broken path to the research station; a large three story structure that resembled some of our Initiative colony modules except this one had large metal shutters instead of windows, open to let in the slight breeze that blew through the valley. As we got near it, we were challenged by a sentry. Jaal answered and we were let inside the station, where Jaal immediately marched over to a female angara that looked to be in charge. After a quick exchange of hugs, they immediately began a quiet argument, leaving the rest of us to stand in uncomfortable silence. Within seconds, Peebee started fidgeting and bouncing, and Liam started eyeballing some of the angaran researchers who were peeking in to look at us. Drack just stared straight ahead, both reptilian green eyes never seeming to waver from the wall, but always keeping every exit in sight.

Finally Jaal and the female angara broke off their argument, and Jaal waved me over, and introduced his companion as Kiiran Daals, lead scientist for the Daar Pelaav outpost. Daals explained the situation. While exploring around a Remnant monolith, a team of her researchers suddenly got caught in some kind of Remnant trap, some kind of stasis field. They weren't hurt; just held, like in a deep sleep. This actually didn't surprise me. I'd heard of asari being able to pull off something similar, locking a person out of phase with biotics, but only for a few seconds at most. Chalk up another mind-boggling example of the superiority of Remnant technology. Initiative: zero, Remnant: several thousand and counting.

Since the research team didn't appear to be in any immediate danger, we stuck around for a few more minutes, Jaal taking us around and introducing us to the other scientists. Most ignored us or asked us to go away. One scientist was trying to get passage off of Havarl, said the plants were trying to get him. Another scientist, an astro-archaeologist, asked us for help retrieving some data from the old town the research station watched over.

The Remnant site wasn't very far according to the scientists; less than two kilometers away. Problem was, the ground was broken as all hell, loaded with hills and hummocks, covered with massive trees and thick undergrowth. There were also ruins of modern angaran structures scattered through the complex, abandoned after the planet started going crazy. There was a stream that went past the station and ran through the center of the valley, and was generally clear of clutter and not very deep. However, the stream was also where most of the animals in the area got their water, and predators liked to stake out along the stream-bank, so unless we wanted to end up getting stalked, we'd have to go through the middle of the jungle. Joy.

And then, just as we were about to head out, Jaal dropped the real bombshell. SAM?

 _{Retrieving relevant audio files.}_

…

 **Jaal: "We should be cautious. There may be Roekaar about."**

 **Scott: "What are roekarr? Some kind of animal?"**

 **Jaal: "No. Angaran fanatics. They hate all aliens and will likely shoot on sight."**

 **Liam: "What!"**

 **Drack: "Figures."**

 **Scott: "Jaal, why didn't you tell us this before? Gah! Never mind. Who or what are the Roekaar? Are they with the Resistance?"**

 **Jaal: "No. They are what you would call a "militia". All angara are expected to fight the kett. The Resistance fights them one way; the Roekaar fight in another way."**

 **Peebee: "Are we talking about actual strategies or is there some philosophy differences thrown in?"**

 **Jaal: "The Resistance protects the angara. However we must. The Roekaar kill aliens. Any way they can."**

 **Liam: "Bloody hell."**

 **Scott: "And if the Roekaar see you with us?"**

 **Jaal: "Some might choose to leave us alone. Others will attempt to kill me first. It makes little difference. I have agreed to help you. So long as you prove the worth of your actions."**

 **Scott: "Thanks for the warning… Alright. Everyone, eyes up. No surprises. Jaal, are we** _ **likely**_ **to run into the Roekaar in the jungle?"**

 **Jaal: "Most likely. Word has almost certainly spread of your arrival on Aya, and now on Havaarl. Whether or not we meet Roekaar will depend upon how soon they can put together a party… and if there are no other aliens in the area."**

 **Liam: "As in the kett."**

 **Jaal: "Most likely. However, there have been scattered reports of your kind popping up in the most unlikely of places."**

 **Scott: "Great. You get that SAM?"**

 **SAM: "I have already alerted Lieutenant Harper. Should anyone attempt to attack the Tempest, she will be prepared."**

 **Scott: "Good. Anything else Jaal? How will we recognize the Roekaar?"**

 **Jaal: "You will recognize them, because they will be the angara shooting at us."**

 **Scott: "Lovely."**

…

 _{End of audio log.}_

It took us over an hour to get to the Remnant site. Jaal took the lead, finding paths and cutting a way through the worst of the undergrowth with his _firaan_ , his big angaran knife. I followed behind Jaal with my Pathfinder Infiltrator profile activated, scanning for heat signatures out in the murk. There was a lot out there, but nothing that bothered us. Even managed to get some good scans of local vegetables and fruits for Cora and Doctor T'Perro to look at.

The actual remnant site was located at the back of a small canyon made by the Remnant structures all around us. And there was Remnant bots, a dozen of them: Observers and Assemblers and Breachers. About what we'd come to expect around Remnant Monolith sites.

And it was a monolith site. The tower suddenly loomed above us out of the dark, and there was the dais, with the angaran researchers, three of them, trapped in some kind of stasis field.

And that was weird. To my knowledge, the only people back in the Milky Way who managed to pull off actual stasis was the asari, and that was using biotics, and only for a few seconds at most. I'd heard that the salarians were experimenting to create the same effect using devices, but that was still a long was in the future.

But there they were: standing around the base of the Monolith, looking like they'd just paused in their tracks. We could see some kind of field surrounding their bodies; kind of like a biotic field, but with clearly defined edges, and I mean edges you could have cut yourself on.

Anyway. It took a few minutes to find and reactivate the Remnant glyphs to restart the Monolith. But as usual, SAM made it easy. It took a little while for us to reconfigure and restart the Monolith, but once we did everything got back to normal in a hurry, including the scientists.

One guy who was standing right next to the dais started jabbering away, taking notes and making observations exactly as if nothing had happened. That is until he noticed me standing less than six feet away from him.

Heh. Turns out, Angara do know how to swear. "Skut! Skutting stars!" Ha! Man, that poor scientist nearly jumped a foot in the air. The other freed angara weren't much better. But, once Jaal calmed them down and explained things, (and showed them the proof of what happened to them) they apologized and thanked us for rescuing them, although they couldn't remember a thing from while they were trapped.

We were packing up the scientists gear to leave when we heard Drack's shotgun roaring from outside the Remnant canyon. We ran back to the canyon entrance and found Drack standing over the carcasses of what looked like a challyrion, the giant quilled camouflaging lizards we kept running into on Eos. Then one of the researchers started shrieking, and suddenly we were inundated by challyrions, six of them, hungry and pissed as hell.

Turns out, challyrions on Havarl are called kreel, they hunt in packs, and get really pissed off when you kill one of their own. Luckily they were all focused on Drack, and that let the rest of us blow them away with ease.

When the hissing and screaming was over, there were seven dead lizards in the clearing. Drack just laughed, called me over, told me to start digging a pit, and immediately started butchering the bodies. Said that Lexi wanted some samples of local wildlife for study, and he needed to restock his larder.

The butchering process was… a weirdly clinical process. First Drack set up a tripod of large branches, hoisted a carcass on the scaffold, and then started cutting. Split and cut out the guts, then peel back the scaly hide, and then start on the muscle and tendons. Every cut and slice had all of Drack's power behind it, but never once did that big krogan have to break or disarticulate anything. Just cut cut cut and then peel bone from bone, popping joints out of sockets as easily as I could pop a pea from a pod. He wrapped the cuts in large fronds, stripped the bones off the scaffold, then start on another carcass.

Only a krogan could have pulled off that butchering job so fast. Only a krogan as experienced as Drack could have done it with such brutal efficiency. Not sure whether that makes me impressed… or afraid.

By that time the shadows were really starting to deepen. Liam and I had found a hollow nearby and packed the bottom and sides with rocks we found nearby. Drack moved most of the wrapped meat into the hole, covered it with more stones and earth, and slung the rest of the meat over his back to carry to the Tempest.

We were almost ready to head back to Daar Pelaav when we got forcibly introduced to another nasty creature of Havarl. First thing we knew was when Peebee, who had been talking with the angaran scientists and going over their studies on the edge of the canyon let out a shriek as something big as a horse jumped on top of her from above. In a second Peebee was on the ground in a bed of mushrooms, the attacking thing's massive head striking down to slice open her neck, stopped only by an eruption of biotic energy from Peebee that knocked it off.

God…

The thing tried to take another stab at Peebee with its fang tipped mouth. Then a cough, and the side of its head exploded in fire. Another cough, and another, and more explosions ripped into the creatures hide, sending it reeling and creeling away, long tail scything through the undergrowth as it tried to get away. One last cough, and the thing fell.

It was Jaal, holding that kett rifle of his, the heat dispersion vents for the plasma manifold steaming in the mist that was rising from the forest floor. All he said was "Rylkor. Likes to strike from ambush. Must have smelled the meat."

Peebee wasn't much the worse for wear, though as soon as the shock passed she did start jabbering a mile a minute. She had scratches and bruises all over from getting knocked to the ground. Jaal made sure that she washed off all the mushroom muck she'd picked up from the fall, said it might do strange things to an off-worlder. The scientists were in complete fucking awe. On the ground, on her front, and Peebee still managed to throw around enough newton's to knock over a Clydesdale.

Took us an hour to get back to the station. Kiiran Daals thanked us for returning her team, and cautiously admitted to some interest in working together in the future before she whisked the restored researchers away for a more thorough debriefing.

When we finally got back to the Tempest I was sore, tired, weary, and all that jazz in the spectrum of dead-beat fall-over lay-me-down-to-rest-and-never-get-back-up tired. But. Lexi had us all go through a quick quarantine and scan she set up in the cargo-bay before she let us go. Drack stomped off to the kitchen bearing his collection of cutlets, Peebee ran off being chased by Lexi, howling that she was fine in spite of her encounter with the Rylkor, and Liam, after he stripped out of his armor, just walked off to the showers without another word.

Jaal just looked at me and asked, "Do all your expeditions end like this?"

What do you say to that?

Anyway. I'm beat. And we've got more monoliths to find tomorrow. SAM, **end recording.**

…

 **Authors Notes:**

 **Does anybody else feel that it was stupid that Havarl should be a moon orbiting a gas giant, and then not name the gas giant? Seriously. Details people!**

 **Speaking of details; the Roekaar. Who are they, and where do they come from? Speculations and theories welcome.**

 **Also, does anyone have any clues as to the actual scale of the Havarl zone? I'd love to know.**

 **Thanks to _lyricsaboutcats_ for her review. I always enjoy hearing your comments on my work.**


	34. Chapter 33

**Thoughts from Andromeda part 33**

By ElementalsAdvocate

…

 **Year 2819. Shipboard Time 19:39, Day 33 after Arrival. Andromeda Galaxy, Heleus Cluster, Faroang System, Planet Havaarl, Daar Pelaav. Tempest, Pathfinders Cabin.**

…

SAM… **start recording.**

We found survivors from Ark Natanus today. They were under attack by the Roekaar. We managed to fight them off, but there were casualties on both sides. Now they're here on the Tempest, and things aren't looking good.

Okay, back up Scott, and start from the beginning.

When I got up this morning, all I wanted was to take some time, get to know the angara, maybe explore the ruins around the research station before heading out to find and activate the other monoliths. So, after breakfast we tromped back out into the jungle again, minus our Remnant expert. During her medical examination of Peebee last night, Doctor T'Perro found fungal spores growing in Peebee's wounds, so today Peebee was stuck in quarantine on an IV of anti-fungal medication.

When we got to the station, Kiiran had everyone come out and greet us, which was a nice change from the greetings we've gotten so. They thanked us for rescuing Then we all went into the station and had a powwow about the Remnant. One of the scientists we rescued from stasis, an angaran male named Torvar, mentioned that one of the Remnant Monolith's was "lost", and that was why the plants and animals were starting to mutate out of control.

I pointed out the greenery and the fact that the planet wasn't tearing itself apart like Eos.

Torvar agreed with me, that some part of the Remnant terraforming machinery must be working on Havarl for there to be this much life. However, unlike on other planets with Remnant structures, only two monoliths have been located on Havarl. That much we actually knew; we'd detected them on our approach to Daar Pelaav: one in the southwest of the complex, where we rescued Torvar and the angaran scientists yesterday, and the other located on the far eastern end of the complex. As for Monolith number three, we had nothing. We still have nothing.

Except. Torvar mentioned a group of angara; Sages, he called them, that might know the location of the third monolith. The problem is that these sages are an isolationist bunch, preferring to live on top of a Remnant tower and I don't know… meditate while the planet falls apart below them. Doesn't matter. I need to impress Evfra. I need to prove that we can work together. I need to show him that I- that we, the Initiative, can work with the Angara to make Heleus a better place.

Anyway… after that we said our good-byes and headed out into the jungle. I'd promised the astro-archaeologist Rashael Vier that we'd check out her old home in the ruins of Daar Pelaav, north of the research station. It wasn't far out of our way, and at the time I figured, "why not?"

We found her home half buried in an old mudslide and vines, and home to a pack of challyrions and large bugs that Jaal called _draals_. Clearing them out was a lot of fun… for Drack.

It didn't take long after we drove off the animals to find Vier's computer. It was… a total loss. Between the long-ago mud slide and the animals, the computer systems, the hard drive, and the memory core were all ruined. When I called up Vier and told her… she sounded so crushed, I couldn't help myself. I asked if there were any back-ups, of any kind. She admitted that there _had_ been a town-wide computer cloud that might have back-ups of her data but that it, like the rest of Daar Pelaav, had been abandoned years ago, and would probably be as defunct as her own ruined computer. Still, I persuaded her to give me the nav-point for the old town's mainframe, and then we headed off into the jungle.

It took us a little while to get to the nav-point Vier provided, and then a while longer while I walked around in circles through the jungle with my scanners on their highest sensitivity trying to find something that would respond like a computer. By the time my scanners found something, Drack was getting his "grumpy old man" face and Liam was humming Pop goes the Weasel under his breath.

But! It was worth it. I found an access panel that led directly to the town's computer back-ups, safely buried underground, untouched and undamaged. SAM did his thing, and thirty seconds later we'd found Rashael's data, and a hell of a lot more besides. Heh, the sheer awe in Vier's voice when she linked up, you'd think we'd found a hidden treasure vault. Which, considering that the town and everything in it had been abandoned twenty years ago, I guess isn't far from the truth.

Liam had wandered a little away at that point. I didn't see what happened, but suddenly I heard him yell and when I turned around Liam was gone. Turns out he'd stepped on some slippery moss and went tumbling down an embankment hidden by ferns into a muddy pool covered with vines. Then Liam really started screaming and thrashing around, howling about snakes and begging us to get him out!

Jaal asked what snakes were. I tried to figure out a way down the embankment without falling into the mud. Liam kept yelling.

Drack took the direct approach. He jumped feet first into the pool, spraying mud everywhere, grabbed Liam, and threw him bodily out of the pool before smashing his way through the embankment and climbing back up.

Have I mentioned lately how glad I am that we've got a krogan on our side?

Jaal and I helped Liam clean off most of the muck. Unfortunately, while he was wearing the requisite Initiative survival gear like me, he hadn't been wearing his helmet when he went into the mud. It was… not nice. Liam was so pissed about the whole thing that he yanked out his side-arm and fired off a few rounds into the pool. I'd seen him do this sort of thing back on Habitat 7. I hadn't gotten after him about it then.

Looking back, maybe I should have.

While Liam cooled off, I did a perimeter sweep, and it was at that moment I noticed life-signs popping into view on my HUD, lots of them, and coming fast. I mentioned it to Jaal, and he turned on his haptic monocle to take a look. Three seconds later, and Jaal went from calm-cool-and-collected to surprised-wet-cat before my eyes. He said that the Roekaar had found us, and that we needed to find defensible ground immediately, before taking off into jungle at a fast trot.

I don't remember how long we ran, but we eventually found a small hill made of tumbled granite blocks and made our stand; Jaal on the high-ground with his rifle, Liam and I behind boulders lower down, and Drack on the ground. Big bastard patently refused to try to climb boulders, and we still hadn't been able to adapt a jump-jet powerful enough to move his bulk more than a few inches, so Drack got his way.

I remember watching the surrounding jungle with one eye down the scope of my Avenger, and watching those red dots on my HUD getting closer and closer with the other eye. I remember the sound of the mud squelching on Liams collar.

Then something exploded out of the undergrowth and the fight was on! A pair of large lizard-like with big teeth and sail-like ridges on their backs charged at Drack, hissing and growling. He blew the first one away with a blast from his shotgun and killed the other with a back-hand swing of his hammer that reduced the lizards head to bloody pulp. Looked like blue watermelon. Then they came; angara, a dozen of them, decked out in garish reds and yellows, yelling at the tops of their lungs, firing with an assortment of kett and angaran weaponry. Then I was too busy fighting to remember much of anything else.

I remember firing into the face of snarling angaran woman, a face that looked like a berserk wild-cat, all bared teeth and black-slitted eyes.

I remember invoking a biotic Throw, sending one of the Roekaar flying backwards and immediately following up with an Incineration tech that turned the angara into a torch before the plasma reacted with the biotics and exploded, taking out another angara and sending a third skidding away screaming and in flames.

I remember the sound of Jaal, growling, firing his rifle overhead at some enemy beyond me.

When the noise stopped, the Roekaar were dead. We weren't.

"Stupid idiots." That's what Drack said. Liam… Liam and I threw up.

Once we composed ourselves, Drack and Jaal were checking the bodies. I saw Jaal bend over a recumbent form, place his ear close to the angara's mouth, listened, nodded, and then drove his firaan into the angara's chest.

When I got up the nerve to ask him about it… SAM?

… **.**

 **Ryder: "Why did you do that?"**

 **Jaal: "Do what?"**

 **Ryder: "Why did you kill that angara?"**

 **Jaal: "He was dying anyway. His diaphragm had ruptured, his bowels destroyed. I have seen such wounds fighting the kett. It might have taken hours for him to die, but he would have died. I simply quickened his passing."**

 **Ryder: "How can you be so calm about this? They're your people"**

 **Jaal: "They are Roekaar. To die in battle tearing their enemies down is their greatest wish. Rrrr." Jaal growls.**

 **Ryder: "I don't understand this. If the Roekaar are fighting the kett, doesn't that make them part of the Resistance."**

 **Jaal: "No."**

 **Ryder: "I'd like a bit more of an explanation, please."**

 **Jaal: "I've told you before. The Resistance protects the angara. The Roekaar kill aliens."**

 **Ryder: "So how does that lead to you sticking a knife between another man's ribs?"**

 **Jaal: "Have you ever been in war, Pathfinder?"**

 **Ryder: "No, but I've been a soldier. I know about mercy-killings. That's one thing. You blowing away your own people without a second thought is another."**

 **Jaal: "That is no concern of yours."**

 **Ryder: "Like Hell it isn't!**

 **Jaal: "… Evfra… does not trust the Roekaar."**

 **Ryder: "Go on."**

 **Jaal: "They do not share our priorities. We want to protect our homes, our people, our families, our civilization. The Roekaar… all they want to do is kill kett. And they don't care how they do it. Or fail to do it. The Roekaar see a burning** _ **daar**_ **, and they see fuel for their hate, martyrs to their cause. Evfra sees a burning** _ **daar**_ **, and he sees a loss to us all; fewer watchers, fewer guns on the walls, fewer bodies to produce food, weapons, gear, supplies that all angara desperately need, now more than ever."**

 **Ryder: "And that justifies killing your own people?"**

 **Jaal: "What would you do, Pathfinder, if you discovered that someone was taking weapons from the Tempest's armory for an attack on a kett outpost; taking every weapon in sight, stripping you to the bones so that they may seek glory, even if they are truly incapable of achieving victory, and leaving you with next to nothing to carry on the fight another day?"**

 **Ryder: "I'd stop them. With words, if possible. By force, if necessary."**

 **Jaal: "Then… you do understand."**

… **.**

I think I do. I think I do.

{What do you understand, Scott?}

Nevermind SAM.

After our little talk, Jaal dropped a beacon to call in the local Resistance to recover the bodies, and we headed east, deeper into the ruins.

We passed more ruined angaran structures, the outskirts of the old Daar Pelaav, and kept traveling until we reached a chasm that split the valley in half. It wasn't a natural chasm; looking down, the walls were all the same grey metal laced with light that we'd seen in the vault on Eos. Really cool, but also really spooky since the stream ran straight into the chasm, and the heat from the Remnant devices turned the flying water into mist that completely obscured how deep the chasm actually was, and we couldn't hear anything over the booming of the water echoing in the void.

We headed south following the chasm. Mithrava, the tower where the angaran sages live is at the southern end of the chasm, and we could see it clearly from over a kilometer away. Then we ran into a wall of Remnant metal; a sheer wall, something like thirty meters, straight up, with no handholds or outcrops. The chasm butted right up against the wall and kept going south, but no way to follow the chasm, except maybe to jump into it.

We were just about to turn around and head back the way we'd come when we heard the shots. Even with the odd echoes bouncing off the Remnant structures around us and the chasm below, I recognized the spitting sounds of kett assault rifles and took off running.

We found a small canyon; a kind of defile formed by the Remnant strutures around us. And we found Roekaar, bodies scattered here and there and more of those large lizards, _adhi_ Jaal called them, dead from shrapnel wounds.

Further up the canyon we heard more shots, kett and angaran plasma weapons, and then I heard the popping sound that only comes from an Avenger assault rifle.

When I heard that sound… God. All my instincts yanked me right back to basic, and I was hauling ass before I knew what I was doing.

Looking back now, it was clear that somebody had done their level best to make that canyon as defensible as possible with the materials available: Lots of cover for a defender made of Remnant plates, choke points, clear lines of fire. I ran past the bodies of more _adhi_ , blown apart by buried mines. The Roekaar had sent in the adhi first to take out the mines, and then followed. They'd paid for the ground in blood, as I passed one red-suited body after another.

We hit the Roekaar from behind, a dozen of them, loaded for bear. The Roekaar tried to react, but then, I'm betting they'd never imagined getting ambushed by a pissed off biotic, a pissed off crisis specialist, an angaran commando, and a fourteen-hundred year old krogan juggernaut all at the same time. Only on our side, all the Roekaar that were already dead must have been the greenhorns because the ones that were still alive and kicking immediately turned around and charged us.

One of the Roekaar came at me, tried to fire his gun, a kett _zalkin_. After spitting two rounds the plasma charge ran out. He threw the gun in my face, yanked out a _firaan_ , and tried to stab me. Thank god for marine combat training. The guy lunged, I dodged, paralyzed his outstretched arm with a jab to the muscles in his upper arm, and… and then I got him with my omni-blade. Almost gutted the poor bastard right there.

It was him or me… and it wasn't going to be me.

Thirty seconds later, the Roekaar were dead at our feet. There had been only seven of them at the end. I got one, Liam got one, Jaal got one, and Drack massacred the other four.

Again; I am really glad he's on our side.

Nobody shot at us from the back end of the canyon, so I assumed they were either dead or friendlies. SAM was busy scanning for radio frequencies, and I was about to try shouting when, low and behold, we got ambushed from behind.

Two angaran shuttles, showing up like spotlights in their white coats against the dark purple sky, flew into the mouth of the canyon, disgorged more Roekaar, and then took off again into the darkness.

The Roekaar came at us, some in red, but most in orange and yellow, loaded down with heavy weapons, a mix of angaran and kett gear. That's all I saw, but when I suddenly felt my shields pop and collapse without even getting hit by enemy fire, I knew that they'd brought along a hacker.

Jaal tried to contact the Roekaar over the comms, trying to negotiate. All I heard from the other side was angaran swear words.

This time, we were the ones on the defensive. The ground favored us, we had good cover, but four against twenty-odd heavily-armed and pissed off attackers was still a tall order, even with a krogan on our sides. Unfortunately for the Roekaar, a krogan wasn't the only thing we had.

With my shields gone, I had to keep my head down. That just gave me time to do something I'd never tried in combat before: invoke a Singularity. I told Liam to cover me while I pulled it off.

Invoking a biotic Singularity is one of the most complicated and powerful invocations a biotic, any biotic, can learn. It takes focus, solid technique, clarity of thought, and no small degree of power. Pulling off all that in the middle of a fight is not easy, even for a fully trained combat biotic specialist like a Special Forces Adept or a Vanguard. Luckily, I had SAM.

It was weird, and somehow, invigorating. I knew what I had to do, and somehow, SAM just shoved all the worries, cares, and fears out of my head, so all I had to focus on were the steps to invoke the Singularity.

When I was ready, I gave Liam the nod. He laid down cover fire while I stepped out of cover. I've watched videos of asari matriarchs invoking multiple singularities with a single sweeping gesture. I'm nowhere near that good. Even with SAM, I needed both hands to perform the Singularity. But… the risk was worth it. I picked a spot in the middle of the Roekaar, right behind where the biggest group was taking cover, and I invoked the Singularity exactly where I wanted it. First time pulling off a Singularity: one-hundred feet away, and

I see the angara, the unshielded ones, get yanked off their feet and dragged towards the micro-black-hole I'd opened up directly behind them. And then… I didn't even think. Again. Which was stupid.

I just reacted. I invoked my best biotic move, the Throw, and hurled it right into the middle of the Singularity.

A singularity is made by collecting and forcing dark matter to come together into a super-dense and microscopic ball, creating what is essentially a tiny, artificial black hole. Anything that gets too close is warped and crushed. Air phases into plasma. Anything not bolted down will get yanked into the singularity and crushed. Even biotic barriers will warp and shatter. But Singularity isn't an invocation that sticks around very long, and as I've learned, its an extremely delicate play of forces.

When you toss a large inertial mass, like a biotic Throw, into the middle of all that delicately controlled fury… Boom. Big. Boom.

The metal walls of the Remnant structures around us channeled the force of the blast up and down the canyon; right through the attacking Roekaar, and right through me. I didn't have time to take cover. I didn't have time to even _think_ about taking cover. One moment I'm on my feet, seeing the Roekaar getting dragged into the Singularity, seeing the Throw go into the Singularity, and the next moment, I'm flat on my back and my ears are ringing.

I drag myself to my knees, yank my helmet off, trying to clear my head. I could hear SAM, but for the first time since Habitat 7, it was like I was hearing him through a wall. I'm covered in mud and dirt from the explosion.

Into my vision comes this angara, a male in the same kind of armor I'd seen the Resistance wearing on Aya, but clutching a red sash across his chest with one hand, and holding onto a kett pistol in the other. He staggers a few steps, then sees me. He walks up, raises his gun, pointing it at my head. I can't move, can't breathe, can't think, just look up the barrel of this gun that looks as big as a dreadnought's main gun.

Shots ring out. At first I thought it was me. But it's the angara that staggers and falls, a bloody hole appearing in its armor. Someone walks in front of me, and I focus on the glowing haptic lines on their boots, the brown tips of metallic spurs, and three-toed feet.

"Gut shot. Painful."

Those were the turians words, just before he fired another burst point-blank into the angara's chest, killing him where he was. Those were the first words I heard from the mouth of Avitus Rix. The first words I ever heard directly from the mouth of a Council Spectre.

Or, should I say, EX-Spectre. He'd retired from the Office of Special Tactics and Recon before joining the Andromeda Initiative, or so he told me later, after everything quieted down.

Avitus pulled me to my feet and introduced himself. Turns out he was from Ark Natanus, the turian ark, and a member of the Natanus's Pathfinder Team. Not the Pathfinder himself, but second-in-command. Two weeks before, he had woken up in his malfunctioning stasis pod, broke out, and found himself in a heavy shuttle with almost forty other turians, wrecked on a mountainside here on Havarl. When they determined that the shuttle would never fly again, the surviving turians, led by Avitus, salvaged what they could and headed down into the valley and in among the Remnant structures. Living off of their own small supply of dextro-based rations, they'd managed to get to the Remnant complex, set up in the canyon, and fortified in-depth. No sooner had they finished their fortifications that the Roekaar attacked.

Maybe it was the fortification that set the Roekaar off. Maybe it was because they were different. Hell, humans didn't do much better when we first met the turians.

A long story short, Avitus and his people had been fighting off attacks by the Roekaar and the local wildlife for the last seven days. Their original number of twenty-four survivors had been whittled down to fourteen, and three of those were critically injured. They all needed food, water, medical care, and a safer place to sleep than under a slab of salvaged hull plating and a thermal blanket.

That snapped me into action. SAM was already making the call back to the Tempest. I handed over all the Medi-gel I had on me. Liam did the same. I asked Vetra to load the Nomad with enough of her dextro rations for fourteen half-starved turians. I called Lexi and told her to get her turian trauma kit and extra medi-gel. Vetra would drive the Nomad, Lexi would ride shotgun with the food and medical supplies, and Cora would stay at the Tempest and get things ready for our arrival.

It was only about half an hour before the Nomad rolled up and Vetra and Lexi hustled out with the supplies. Lexi immediately demanded to see the injured. Two minutes later, she gave her diagnosis. All three of the turians needed immediate medical attention in a hospital, or barring that, in the Tempest med-bay, as soon as possible, or they would die, period. Not only that, but all the turians were suffering from malnutrition and starvation to one degree or another, and almost everyone was injured to one degree or another.

Somehow, I managed to convince Jaal to call Daar Pelaav and beg them to loan us a small shuttle that they had for supply runs. Not large enough to carry all of us, but just large enough to carry Lexi, the three critically injured patients, and two more to help her. Vetra loaded up in the Nomad with two of the weakest turians suffering from malnutrition, and then tore off back to the Tempest, tires hurling up mud behind her.

With the worst of the wounded and suffering moved out, Avitus and the rest of his survivors tore their camp apart, salvaging everything they could; supplies, weapons, gear, even the wires from out of the shuttle plating to use for rope. Everyone got a weapon from the dead Roekaar. I asked Jaal about it, and he said as long as we didn't desecrate the bodies or take personal items, things should be fine. He dropped another Resistance beacon for a body pick-up, and then we headed out of the canyon.

The walk back to the Tempest was… tense. Not only were we on a hair-trigger for anything coming out of the jungle, but we were two humans (and me a biotic), a krogan, and an angara. Turians had bad blood with each of our respective races. Drack is a krogan, turians put down the Krogan Rebellions over two thousand years ago now. Turians and humans had given each other proverbial bloody noses during the First Contact War, and turians are generally wary if not outright superstitious about biotics. And Jaal? Goes without saying, given recent events.

We moved as quickly as we dared, heading north along the edge of the chasm, then following the stream west until we got to Daar Pelaav, and then turning south in a straight shot to the Tempest. I don't know whether our fire-fight with the Roekaar had scared everything off or what, but nothing messed with us. We covered five kilometers in just over an hour, and when we finally got to the Tempest, we were all tuckered out, even Drack.

Cora and the rest of the crew had set up a makeshift triage and quarantine area in the cargo-bay. Lexi was up in the medical bay operating on the critical patients, and Vetra was up there too, giving blood. In the meantime, Cora and the rest of the crew had set up a makeshift triage and quarantine area in the cargo-bay. As soon as we were sure that someone wasn't going to keel over dead, we'd stick an supplements IV in their arm, directed them to one of the makeshift hammocks turians prefer to beds, and moved on to the next patient. The turians, for their part, passed out as soon as they lay down.

Now, we have fourteen new passengers, passengers with special needs. Turians can't eat the same foods the rest of do because of the chirality thing, and we didn't bring a lot of turian rations to begin with. I need to find out the situation.

But… tomorrow. Right now, I just really need a hot shower, a big meal, and about twelve hours of sleep. Make that food first; I thought I smelled Drack cooking something in the galley when I went past. I'll go and see what he's doing.

That is if I can keep my eyes open long enough to get there.

SAM, **end recording.**

…

 **Authors Notes:**

 **Something that I've noticed in some of the reviewers of ME:A is that Jaal shows a seemingly marked disinterest during the Pathfinders first encounters with the Roekaar. I just wanted to give a little more characterization to this aspect within angaran society. Your thoughts on my portrayal, anyone?**


	35. Chapter 34

**Thoughts from Andromeda part 34**

By ElementalsAdvocate

…

 **Year 2819. Shipboard Time 8:15, Day 34 after Arrival. Andromeda Galaxy, Heleus Cluster, Faroang System, Planet Havaarl, Daar Pelaav. Tempest, Pathfinders Cabin.**

…

SAM, **start recording please.**

Well, we're in a situation now. We've only got enough dextro- food and medical supplies for the fifteen turians for about seven days, maybe ten days if we start rationing food now. Vetra gave me the figures over breakfast, and I know better than to doubt her math. Kallo figures that it will take about five days for the Tempest to get back to the Nexus from Havarl, though he thinks he can cut that number down if we can convince the Resistance to let us look at their star-charts. In any case, that leaves us with only two days to find and activate the Remnant vault.

I also want to try and find out if there's anything from the wreck of the Natanus's shuttle that might shed light on what happened to the Natanus. But I can't be in two places at once.

So this is my plan: I will lead one team with Jaal, Vetra, and Peebee to find a way up Mithrava, and hopefully get some direction for finding the third monolith. Failing that, we'll head straight for the second monolith and activate it. Maybe having the two points will lead us to the third somehow.

Cora will take the Nomad with Liam and Avitus, find a way out of the valley onto the mountains, find the shuttle wreck, and find out if there is anything, anything at all, that might help us find out what happened to the turian ark. God knows, we could use the help.

Drack will have to stay with the Tempest. He won't be happy about it, but with all these sick turians, plus the Roekaar out for our blood, I'd feel a lot better knowing he's on hand in case of trouble. Plus, he won't fit in the Nomad with the others, and we still haven't got a jump jet powerful enough for him, and we need to move fast.

If there's one good thing about Peebee getting sick, it's convinced her to get some proper survival gear. Vetra's down in the armory with her right now, fitting her out with a hard-suit and jump jets so she can keep up with us. Jaal's down there as well; Vetra apparently found a way to modify a jump pack to work with angaran technology, so now he'll be able to hop and skip around with the rest of us.

Yikes. Now that's an image.

We've got a lot to do, and not a lot of time to do it. If anything happens to me… well, SAM knows what to do.

SAM, **end recording.**

 **...**

 **Authors Notes: Thank you to Guest for reviewing on Chapter 22. I did not consider the kinds of upgrades that might possible in the future for fusion besides the actual refocus from fission to fusion as a power source. What kind of gases might be used in that regard?**


	36. Chapter 35

**Thoughts from Andromeda part 35**

By ElementalsAdvocate

…

 **Year 2819. Shipboard Time 13:43, Day 34 after Arrival. Andromeda Galaxy, Heleus Cluster, Faroang System, Planet Havaarl, Mithrava Tower Summit**

…

 _Pathfinder's log, from the top of Mithrava_.

You know, we nearly killed ourselves a dozen times getting up here. But, now that I'm here, I have to say: the view is friggin' worth it. I can see the entire valley from up here: the trees, the chasm, Daar Pelaav to the east. Can't see the Tempest. Remnant structures poking up through the trees all over the place, and the Monoliths… except I can only see two of them.

Damn. I was really hoping that the whole Lost Monolith thing was just a metaphor or something.

The Sages up here haven't been much help. They know that the planet is going to hell but they aren't doing anything about it. When I asked, the Chief gave me a speech that boils down to "dying with dignity".

I've died once already. There was nothing "dignified" about it.

…

Okay, if anybody needs to get up here again, here's what you need to do: go to the bottom of the Chasm of the Builders (that's what the Angara call the canyon cutting the Remnant site in two) and follow it as far south as possible. Be very cautious of the wildlife and the Remnant bots. When you can't go any further, look around for a console behind some rocks; the console should unlock the way forward. Some Remnant pillars will move on the west side of the chasm and should reveal a hidden chamber with a hole in the ceiling leading up. It's easily over a hundred feet straight up, but the sides of the hole are tiered so you can manage the climb with jump-jets. I have no idea how the Angara manage it. Then you find yourself in a room with a glowing metal ball in the center. It's a Remnant gravity well, like the kind we found in the Vault on Eos, and if you interact with it, the gravity well carries you across the chasm to a chamber on the other side. That leads to a bridge that leads to the base of the tower, and from there you start your climb.

Thanks to our jump jets, we were able to scale and leap around the sides of the tower. Trying to describe all the trial and error we went through trying to get up this tower would take more time then we've got.

Matter of fact, if you've got a choice; just take a shuttle up here or stay home. I've no idea how the Sages could get up here without jump jets or a SAM. Hell, maybe they've got a secret back-stairs somewhere. I don't know. It doesn't matter.

What does matter is that we managed to convince the Sages to give us a lead on how we can find someone who might, just maybe, have access to a memory of someone who might have known where to find the third monolith.

Jeezus. Reincarnation, for crying out loud! How do I get myself into these things?…Guess I'd better try and explain this too- okay!

According to Jaal, most Angara believes in reincarnation. The way he described it, angaran families are an "unbroken thread": past lives reappearing inside a family and continuing to provide strength through the ages. According to Head Sage Esmus, sometimes an angara will remember one of their past lives. Long ago, before the Scourge, there was an Angara named Zorai who understood the monoliths and the Remnant, and apparently knew where the third monolith was located. Now one of Zorai's descendants, a guy named Taavos, has "received" Zorai's soul, and he might be able to remember something from Zorai's life if he is confronted with something that Zorai owned or used.

That's all well and good, if reincarnation is real. But there are some big problems; big, practical, _real_ problems of the here and now we have to deal with before we can even think of about that. Like the fact that the only artifact of Zorai that the Sages know about is somewhere in a Remnant ruin on the other side of the site, lost hundreds of years ago. Or the fact that Taavos is a member of the Roekaar.

Fuck! Why did it have to be the Roekaar?!

Anyway, I'm going to leave a communicator here at Mithrava with Esmus in case I need to get in touch with the Sages again. I really don't want to have to climb back up here unless I absolutely have to. I also need to talk to Jaal about some way to get in touch with Taavos without getting shot by the Roekaar. From what he's said, the Resistance around here has a pretty good grapevine with the locals. Who knows? Maybe we'll get lucky and Taavos will come to us.

Here's hoping.

 _ **{Log ends.}**_

…

 **Authors Notes: Thanks to** _ **grass type guy**_ **for your comment. I know that Helium-3 is the most common fuel in Mass Effect, but I didn't know about using hydrogen isotopes for proper fusion reactors. Thanks again.**


	37. Chapter 36

**Thoughts from Andromeda part 36**

By ElementalsAdvocate

…

 **Year 2819. Shipboard Time 18:07, Day 34 after Arrival. Andromeda Galaxy, Heleus Cluster, Faroang System, Planet Havaarl, Remnant Abyss**

…

 _Pathfinders log…_ ha… jeez I'm beat.

Well, we did it. We got the gauntlet! Ha! Eat that Esmus you old coot!

"What?"

Ha… sorry Jaal. Just got a little excited that's all. Don't mind me.

"As you wish."

Ha…ha… Jeez. Why is that funny? Okay, settle down Scott this is serious. Okay.

The trip down Mithrava didn't take nearly as long as the trip up. No brainer since we knew the way this time and we'd taken out most of the Remnant bots wandering around.

Jaal's really taken to the jump jets. I heard him muttering about sending the designs to the Resistance on Aya for testing. I'm not so sure about that; the Initiative should keep some tactical advantages, but… all for a good cause.

Anyway, on our way back up the chasm, we stumbled across some kind of Remnant space craft, too big to be a drone or a robot. It was wrecked, but we did get some scans that should have the scientists back at the Nexus salivating. Not only that, but in the cockpit, we found the remnants of an angaran skeleton, with some bits and pieces of angaran tech, including an ancient, complete and intact, angaran helmet. Jaal said that the Museum of History on Aya would pay top dollar for an artifact like that… well, maybe he didn't say that, but we need all the good-will we can get, so I bagged the helmet.

Getting out of the chasm took a while. I don't know why, but there are animals and Remnant robots all over the place down there. By the time we got to the cleft where we'd originally come down, we were almost out of ammo. Jaal gave the go ahead, and I called down a command module we'd dropped off in orbit before we landed on Havarl. After we loaded back up on ammo blocks, thermal clips, and medi-gel, we climbed the rest of the way out of the chasm and headed back into the jungle.

The place we were headed to is called The Remnant Abyss by the Sages at Mithrava, apparently because it's really dark inside and no one in recorded angaran history has ever come out of the Abyss alive. Heh… I guess we've changed that today.

It actually didn't take that long to get from the Chasm to The Abyss. We found a jungle trail that looked like it had seen a lot of traffic in the last few days. When we got to the ruin, we found out why.

It was the Roekaar. God! Where are these guys coming from? Over a dozen of them, practically on top of the entrance to the Remnant Abyss and- Surprise! Armed to the teeth and pissed. Although, that may have more to do with the galorn we accidentally startled and stampeded through their camp. And then a couple of Remnant Observers and Bashers joined the party. That was… bad. An effective distraction but… bad. Messy, very messy. When the fight was over, we were the only ones still standing, but for some reason… it didn't feel like a victory.

We took a few minutes to rest before we headed down into the Abyss. It looks a lot like the entrance to the vault on Eos; a featureless black metal plate, surrounded on all sides by looming Remnant block structures, with a hole in the middle of the plate sloping down to a large, low door. By that time the light was starting to fade, and the looming shadows just gave everything an oppressive air.

After we'd rested, we headed down into the ruins. SAM accessed the door and we walked into another long low room, completely and utterly black, the only illumination coming from the running lights and body-lights on our gear. Really spooky shit.

It didn't take long for SAM to find the light-switch, and when he did, we were immediately picked up by Remnant gravity well and carried down into the darkness beneath the earth. I don't know how far we went, but it felt like an eternity, passing the irregular lights that flickered in the walls like fireflies while you're lost in a dark forest. You want the lights, but you're also afraid when you see them because you don't know whether they're help or harm.

We finally came out of the darkness and into another chamber, a big one. Now we were into the Remnant underground for certain. Big chambers, massive metal walls floors pillars and ceilings, strange lights in the walls that left everything in a kind of strong moon-lit glow, odd humming and clanking sounds, strange and arcane artifacts scattered all over the place… typical Remnant stuff. Even Peebee stopped salivating after the first two minutes.

We ran into a new Remnant bot in the next chamber, some kind of heavy walker, like a much bigger and nastier cousin of the Nullifiers. Luckily we were able to get close enough to get some good scans without setting it off and put together a plan of attack. Aside from heavy armor and shields and a main gun, the walker also has two rapid fire turrets on either side of its head. Take out the turrets first and then whittle it down with shots from all sides. I played decoy since I had the heaviest shields aside from Vetra and I was the fastest and most agile aside from Peebee. Vetra sapped the shields on the turrets with her Cyclone, Peebee and Jaal blew the turrets off with biotics and sniper fire, and then we whittled it down. Peebee took some fire, but her armor took the worst of it. Score one for Initiative armorers, and Vetra's good sense.

After that it was a lot of hunting through one chamber after another. Luckily they were pretty linear without any offshoots we could access. We also got attacked once by a mob of Assemblers and Observers. That was a party. Note to anyone who ends up in a similar situation: use AOE and crowd control tactics. EMP grenades are also effective.

… I didn't even know Jaal _had_ EMP grenades.

We finally found the artifact, a Remnant gauntlet similar to the we found on Eos, in the last chamber we searched. What gave it away that this gauntlet was the artifact we were looking for was the _very_ decomposed body of an angara.

… Most of what was left of him was dirt. As in actual, decomposed, organic matter, dirt. There were _mushrooms_ growing out of it. That's how we even found the body in the first place. The damn things were in a rough circle around the body, and they were glowing. Spooky. Abso-fucking-lutely spooky.

From the scraps of gear we found and an old angaran data drive containing journal entries from two-hundred years ago, the angara was a descendant of Zorai. The gauntlet had come to him from his grandfather, and according to the journal entries, this angara (we never found out what his name was) had decided to follow in Zorai's footsteps and try to learn how to control the Remnant.

Shits that he ended up dying in the bottom of a Remnant pit.

We'd passed a Remnant gravity well while we were exploring, and a little work from SAM let us pop up back where we'd started with the artifact in hand. Mission accomplished! Also we got a ton of Remnant artifacts. Peebee gave most of them a "meh" but I'm pretty sure the angara at Daar Pelaav or the Sages might be interested.

"Speaking of which… SAM, call Esmus. Let's tell him the good news."

 _{One moment, Pathfinder.}_

 **["Hello?"]**

"Esmus, this is Pathfinder Ryder. We got the gauntlet."

 **["You did? I am… amazed. No one in living memory has ever entered the Remnant Abyss and emerged to tell the tale."]**

"Yes, well; save your praise until after we save Havarl. Any news on Taavos?"

 **["I have spoken with some of his family. Taavos is here on Havarl. That's all I know."]**

"It's a start. Thank you."

 **["Pathfinder…you are aware of the animosity which the Roekaar hold for your people?"]**

"I don't want to kill anyone, Sage. That said it is your planets life on the line."

 **["I understand. Please… please be careful."]**

"Ryder."

"What is it Jaal?"

"I've just received word from a contact in the local Resistance. Apparently the Roekaar know about the Tempest, and are massing for an attack at a local base."

"If they try it they'll lose."

"No doubt. However, my contact says that most of the Roekaar across the planet are moving to this base, and unless Taavos is among those we've already killed-"

"-Then he's probably at this base with all the other Roekaar. Shit."

"Yes. What do you want to do?"

"I want to not have to get into this mess. I want to just turn around and leave without killing anybody else. But I'm not going to. Fuck. Do you have any idea where this base is?"

"Only that it is "Beneath the eyes of the Lonely Monolith". I believe it is referring to the Remnant Monolith at the eastern end of this complex, across the Chasm of the Builders."

"Great. Any idea when they might attack?"

"The Roekaar prefer to attack with overwhelming numbers if they can. It spares the young from considering proper tactics. However, if they know about our deadline, it is likely that they will attack soon, tonight or tomorrow, when we are tired or away from the Tempest."

"Fuck."

"If that word means what I think it means… yes, we are."

"No help for it then. We're just going to have to beard this lion in its den."

"… What is a lion?"

"A large predatory mammal from Earth. Big teeth, big claws, and bad tempers. The males have large manes of long hair that goes all around their head. They're a symbol of pride, strength, and masculinity. Bearding a lion in its den means going into the sanctuary of something large and dangerous and goading them into attacking you."

"Hmmm. Such tactics seem… unwise. Almost like the Roekaar in its foolishness."

"Do you have a better plan?"

"None that we could implement before our departure."

"Great."

"Really? Oh! You were joking."

"Something like that… Well, we're not getting anything done sitting around here. SAM, what's the status of Team 2?

 _{Lieutenant Harper's team was successful in finding the shuttle, and has confirmed that it belonged to Ark Natanus. However, the shuttle's navigational computer is damaged beyond repair or recovery. Scans show that the shuttle encountered Scourge before entering Havarl's atmosphere, destroying most of the shuttle's electrical systems and precipitating its crash.}_

"Shit."

 _{Also, Lieutenant Rix noted that someone has scavenged from the shuttle since the turians abandoned it ten days ago. Tracks of angara were found around the wreckage and the turian cremation site.}_

"The Roekaar? Or the Resistance?"

 _{Unknown.}_

"Great. Where is Team 2 now?"

 _{Team 2 is currently on route back to the Tempest. Estimated time of arrival: Eighteen-hundred-thirty hours.}_

"Okay. Patch me through to the Nomad."

 **[Cora here.]**

"Harper: as soon as you get back to the Tempest, I want you to drop off Rix and Costa. Load up Drack and some food and munitions and head for our Nav-point. Sending now."

 **[Nav-point received. Do you have a lead on the third monolith?]**

"I'll fill you in when you get here. Also; Rix? You there?"

 **[I'm here Pathfinder.]**

"As soon as you get back to the Tempest, I want you to pick out a team of your people to stand watch in case of trouble. We just got a tip that the angara who attacked you might be setting up to come after the Tempest."

 **[Understood Pathfinder. Can I assume that you're planning on dealing with this threat?]**

"You could say that."

 **[Ryder: Costa here. Sure you don't want me to come along with Cora and Drack?]**

"Negative Costa. I need at least one person from the Pathfinder team to stay with the ship at all times. If Cora and I kick the bucket that means you will be the only one besides Captain Dunn to receive SAM."

 **[Oh... right.]**

"Yeah. Don't sweat it Liam. I've no intention of dying today. Pathfinder out."

"I assume you have a plan?"

"I have a plan Jaal. Just… not one I'd like to talk about before Drack and Cora get here."

"Oh. Why not?"

"In case I talk myself out of it. Go get some rest Jaal. You're going to need it."

…

 _{Pathfinders Log ends}_

…


	38. Chapter 37

**Thoughts from Andromeda part 37**

By ElementalsAdvocate

…

 **Year 2819. Shipboard Time 04:47, Day 35 after Arrival. Andromeda Galaxy, Heleus Cluster, Faroang System, Planet Havaarl, Chasm of the Builders**

…

 **Pathfinders Log.**

I screwed up. I seriously screwed up. And I'm too wired to sleep and too tired to go for a walk, so… I'm just going to talk with my helmet on while I'm on watch. That way everybody else get some sleep while I slowly go insane.

It just seemed so easy back at Mithrava. Find the gauntlet, find the guy, find the monolith, find the vault, save the planet, go back to the Nexus and the Angara a hero.

Bull. Shit.

Right now, going into that Remnant ruin and finding the gauntlet was the easy part. The rest of it… fuck.

When we finally got of the ruins with the gauntlet, I finally got some info on where Taavos was. Problem is, he was in the middle of a Roekaar base, setting up to attack the Tempest. The way I saw it, the only way we were going to get to Taavos before our deadline was to go and get him directly, and the only way to do that was to attack the Roekaar's base. Jaal had no objections, so I figured; why the heck not?

Except… once we were back on the move, I started to have doubts; wondering if going through the front door with guns blazing was the right way to do things. I mean, we're supposed to be helping the angara on this mission, not shooting them. When we fought the Roekaar before, the Roekaar attacked us first, and we were on the move. But going after a Roekaar base to find one guy?

So I tried to talk things out. Took the diplomatic route. And it fell flatter than a freshly-popped Eden Prime gas bag.

According to Jaal's contact in the Resistance, the Roekaar had set up shop on the eastern end of the Remnant ruins, beneath the shadow of the second monolith. The eastern end of the ruins is basically a fortress: surrounded on all sides by big Remnant blocks and sheer mountain slopes that not even the Nomad can navigate, with a large open courtyard area in the middle a kilometer across in every direction. There's only two ways in: by air (and since we don't have a shuttle it's kind of a moot point), or through a small passage on the western end, across the Chasm of the Builders. At some point in the past, the angara had put up a bridge across the Chasm, retractable so animals couldn't get across and bother anyone working at that end of the site, and according to Jaal, the Roekaar would have a guard-post set up to watch the bridge. Go to bridge, find Roekaar, maybe talk to the Roekaar.

When we got to the bridge, I asked everybody to hold back while I went ahead to talk. Big mistake. The Roekaar came out, but only to beat the shit out of me and take the gauntlet. Assholes.

But, coming across the bridge brought the Roekaar into range of Drack the Krogan Wrecking-Ball. Scattered those poor bastards like bowling pins and Drack just kept on going across the bridge. When the rest of us got there, the fight was already over, and the Roekaar were dead. _Bloody_ and dead. Krogan hammer and shotgun…. Fuck.

Don't vomit now Scott. Don't. Vomit. Now… ugh.

Another thing trying to talk screwed up; the Roekaar at the bridge had time to warn their base at the monolith we were coming. So the Roekaar had enough time to send out small teams to set up and try to ambush us as we crossed the Courtyard. But after that, the Roekaar's tactics just got… stupid. I mean, it didn't seem like that at the time, but it was like the Roekaar commander drew a straight line from the bridge and the passage through the ruins, all the way to the monolith, and tried to pack it with as many small teams as could fit on the line. Attrition tactics: put up a bunch of small walls and hope we'd eventually run into one we couldn't get through, I guess. And it wasn't like the Courtyard was completely flat and bare; it was covered in large boulders and ferns, so the Roekaar had plenty of cover in the dark. But as soon as we'd come in range, the Roekaar would break cover and attack. With our jump jets, we always had the maneuver advantage, and with biotics and tech, we could wrinkle out any who tried to be smart and fight from cover. And we just kept moving forward until we finally got to the base.

I… I don't know how many we killed in the Courtyard. Or if any managed to get away.

Anyway. The Roekaar's main base was up in a kind of platform or cleft in the Remnant ruins, connected to the floor of the Courtyard by a staircase. Seven of those modular structures, like the ones we saw at Daar Pelaav. So the style is ubiquitous. Heh. Heh… I am going crazy.

No. I just don't want to think about what happened next.

What happened next was a fucking slaughter. A cluster-fuck and a half, for the Roekaar anyway. It wasn't that we were actually that good. It's just that the Roekaar had absolutely no idea how to fight us except point, shoot, scream, and run. They tried setting up a bottle neck at the staircase, but between Jaal rifle, Vetra's machine-gun, our jump jets, and the biotics, not to mention Drack… God. The sorry shits didn't have a chance.

We found Taavos in a security building on the south end of the Roekaar base, trying to call for help from someone called Akksul. Didn't matter. SAM locked out the communications in seconds. I didn't want to do any more damage than I had to, so only Jaal and I went inside the building.

Taavos was bent over a communications panel when we came in. So when the door opened, he had to turn and stand up straight to look at us. First thing I remember is how big the guy was. Even for an angaran. Actually, most of the ones I've seen aren't much bigger than humans, anywhere between five to seven feet tall. But when I'm only six foot already, and a hundred and eighty pounds soaking wet, it doesn't take much to be bigger than me. And Taavos was _big_. Second thing I noticed was the black tattoos on his blue skin, sharp thin lines.

Turns out Taavos is also the commander to the Roekaar base, and he wasn't particularly happy with us.

SAM?

 _{One moment Pathfinder.}_

…

Taavos: "You've killed the men under my charge. And now you'll crown that achievement by killing me too. Does that please you, savage?"

Scott: "No, it doesn't please me. And it sure as fuck doesn't please me that I had to kill your people. And for your information, I tried to talk, but your people seemed more interested in shooting at me and smacking me around then listening to someone who came to them unarmed."

Taavos: "Shooting first has saved us in countless encounters with kett."

Scott: "I'm not kett!"

Taavos: "You're an alien. You cannot be trusted. Tell me why you've come here, so I know why I've died."

Scott: "I've talked to the Sages on Mithrava. According to them, you know where to find the third Remnant Monolith."

Taavos: "The sages sent you? Those secretive thin-brains with their skutting-! They don't even care that their people are being enslaved and killed by kett!

Scott: "Yeah, I kind of got that."

Taavos: "My friends died for _this_?"

Scott: "Kind of hard to think of the present when your vocation is to remember the past. Look, _I'm sorry._ I'm just trying my best to find the third monolith and save Havarl. I have a… artifact or heirloom, or something. I'm going to set it down, and I need you to take hold of it."

Taavos: "What?"

 _ **Scott sets the gauntlet on the floor between them and steps back towards the door. Taavos eyes Scott suspiciously, but kneels down and picks up the gauntlet.**_

Taavos: "And?"

Scott: "Look at it. What is it? Does it remind you of anything?"

Taavos: "I don't-! Wait."

 _ **Taavos stares at the gauntlet, turning the thing in his hands.**_ "There are things like this in the museum on Aya. Ancient angaran tech. This fits over a hand… contacts on the inside for myoelectric control of…"

SAM: _{Scott, get back.}_

 _ **Taavos goes rigid and falls over. Scanners howl a warning as electro-magnetic radiation floods the room for a split second and then subsides.**_

SAM: _{Oh… so that's what it feels like for your hair to stand on end.}_

Cora: **[Ryder, what just happened in there? We're coming back!]**

Scott: "Everybody hold! Do not come in! Jaal, what happened?"

Jaal: "An instinctive defense. Although I have never-"

Taavos: "Ah… What- What did you do to me?"

Scott: "Taavos, listen to me. The third monolith: where is it? Do you know?

Taavos: "I know things. The underground monolith. I remember… pain, desperation."

Scott: "I need you to take me there. Please. If you do this, we can save Havarl, together.

Taavos: "You? You're an alien. I can't trust-"

Scott: "Your planet is _dying_. I did not come to this planet to help my people; I came here to help yours: the angara! I don't care what's been shoved into your head- which of us has actually been inside a Remnant vault? Me, that's who, and I'm the one who figured out how to get it running again, and put Eos back on the road to recovery. But I can't do that here, because I don't know where the last monolith is. But you do! Help me, and together, we can save Havarl. Together, we can save the angara. I know we can."

Taavos: "Deep beneath the surface, but… but not far. Here," _**Taavos raises his left arm and activates the blue sphere that is the angaran equivalent of an omni-tool, sending a quick burst to Scott's omni-tool,**_ "…these coordinates. I will guide you the rest of the way. Just… let me compose myself first."

Scott: "Take all the time you need. Come on Jaal."

...

That's enough, SAM.

…

 _{You could not have known what he would do Scott.}_

I should have known. I should have guessed he might try something. I should have left Jaal with him, or at least left someone on watch at the hut. But all I wanted was to get the stink of Angaran blood out of my nose and finish everything and get the Hell off Havarl. So when everyone followed me up to the monolith, I didn't think. I didn't fucking _think_!

 _{Scott…}_

It's… okay, SAM.

Anyway, when we got back to the huts, Taavos was long gone. Jaal and Drack managed to track him down to the courtyard, but then his tracks disappeared in an empty field. A shuttle probably picked him up. In which case, he's long gone.

Cora was for heading back to the Tempest, but I insisted that we go to the coordinates that Taavos had sent me before Jaal and I left him alone. Turns out, he may not have been trying to trick us, because the beacons from the other monoliths were sending signals that end in this general area. If anything was saw on Eos is similar, that means the lost monolith has to be around here somewhere.

So here we are: at the north end of the Chasm of the Builders, tucked onto a rock shelf, with water all around us, waiting to see if Taavos will show up, trying to keep dry, avoid the animals and the Remnant bots, and get some rest in the process. Or at least the others are; I'm out here in the dark slowly going insane.

 _{Or rather, trying to process everything which has happened in such a way that you do not go insane.}_

Heh, there is that.

 _{Scott. You made the best choice you could have in terms of your duties as Pathfinder. You do not control Taavos, and you were trying to be kind by leaving him alone. Whatever happens now, it is in his hands. I do not yet understand the mechanics of the angaran's "reincarnation" but if it is anything like our own relationship, he will want to use his new-found knowledge to help his people, Roekaar or not regardless. And we are waiting at the coordinates he gave us. And, from the signals projected by the monoliths we have already activated, the last monolith must be nearby. Hidden or lost; we will find it eventually.}_

…How do you know that SAM?

 _{Because I know you, Scott. And I know that whatever happens, you will never give up. Get some sleep Scott. If Taavos shows up, I have a feeling you'll need it.}_

Yeah, I guess you're-

"Do not move, alien! Make a sound, and your corpse will rot for eternity in this place."

Taavos?

"Silence, I said! Now drop your weapons and put your hands behind your back. You're coming with me."

To the Roekaar?

"To the Monolith. I do not know how you are able to interface with the Remnant, but I will not allow you to die before my questions are answered, even if I must extract them from your ruined body. _Move_."

…

 ** _Log Ends._**

…

 **Authors Notes: Apologies for the long wait everyone. I ended up stuck in a back alley in the Forest of Detail, trying to figure out which tree to tap to get me to Diagon Alley. Actually, I originally planned for this entry to take place in the Tempest, but things became overcomplicated and twisted in a hurry. Thank goodness for SAM. I'm still trying to figure out how to articulate the next couple of chapters before the Pathfinder Team is forced to leave Havarl. Should be fun!**

 **As always: read, review, and enjoy. Especially review. What do you want to see? What do you want to know more about? Tell me, please!**

 **Update:**


	39. Incident Log - Havarl

**Incident Log - Havarl**

By ElementalsAdvocate

 **…...**

 _{Internal communication either to or from SAM}_

 **[Messages broadcast across comms]**

 _ **SAM internal narrative and SAM commands**_

 **…...**

 _ **Pathfinder Scott Ryder has just been captured by Taavos ama Zorai, an officer within the angaran extremist group known as the Roekaar. The situation is complicated by Taavos connection with an ancient angaran hero known only as Zorai, who apparently knew the location of the third monolith on the planet Havarl. According to angaran tradition, angaran souls can "reincarnate" within a family, and Taavos is, according to the Sages of Mithrava, the reincarnation of Zorai, and possessing Zorai's information. Given Taavos's reaction after interacting with a Remnant gauntlet that belonged to Zorai, this may be more than simple superstition or faith-belief.**_

 _ **When pressed, Taavos provided the Pathfinder with a nav-point for a later meeting: a position at the northern end of the Chasm of Builders. This nav-point corresponds with signals being sent from the two known Havarl monoliths; therefore the third monolith must be in the area. However, a preliminary search by the Pathfinder team revealed nothing, and the team has camped for the remainder of the night. Pathfinder Ryder, desiring solitude to consider his actions, left the camp. However, this left him vulnerable, and now he has been captured by Taavos.**_

…

 **Scott:** _{How did he sneak up on us?}_

 **SAM:** _{Taavos is clearly more skilled at stealth then the other Roekaar we have encountered. I've alerted the others to the situation-}_

 **Scott:** _{No. Tell them to stay back, at least until we find out where the monolith is. If Taavos is telling the truth, then he should be lead us right to it.}_

 **Taavos:** "Keep moving."

 **Scott:** "How much further?"

 **Taavos:** "Quiet!"

 _ **Scott's hands are bound behind his back with cord. Taavos is walking behind Scott with the end of the cord wrapped around one forearm, leaving the other arm free to aim his weapon at Scott's back.**_

 **Scott:** "You know, if you're really interested-"

 **Taavos:** "We're here."

" _ **Here" is where the Chasm ended. Massive slabs of granite, forming a series of natural shelves, terminating in a wall of Remnant pillars; metallic green-laced-black hexagonal columns rising up to the top of the chasm.**_

 **Taavos:** "Climb."

 **Scott:** "Can't. My hands are tied."

 **Taavos:** "Then jump."

 **Scott:** "Can't do that either. That first shelf is at least six feet straight up. I'm not built to-."

 **Taavos:** "I said jump! I know you can: I saw you and the other jumping all over the base while you were wiping out my command. Now jump!"

 **Scott:** "What about you? Can you jump that high?"

 _ **Taavos growls, and with a short run, bounds to the top of the first granite slab.**_

 _ **Taavos:**_ "Now… jump!"

 _ **Scott shrugs, and wordlessly jump-jets to Taavos's side.**_ **Scott:** "Okay. It's doable."

 **Taavos:** "Move."

 _ **Scott and Taavos ascend the tiers of stone until they reach the top shelf and are stopped by the pillars. Taavos gruffly drags Scott to one side and ties the cord to a handy boulder.**_

 **Scott:** "What now?"

 _ **Taavos doesn't answer. Instead, he approaches a nub of metal sticking out of the shelf, directly in the middle of the chasm.**_

 **Taavos:** "It's here. I can feel it. I just have to…"

 _ **Taavos extends one hand over the Remnant node. Moments pass.**_

 **Taavos:** "Why isn't it working? It should be working! Three indentations, and palm over the top! Why isn't it working?"

 **Scott:** "Having trouble?"

 **Taavos:** "Shut up, alien!"

 **Scott:** "What are you telling me to shut up for? You're the one making all the noise."

 **Taavos:** "Grrrr…."

 **Scott:** "You know, not that it's any of my business… but it might help if you calm down a bit and take a few deep breaths. Like this: breathe for a count of four through the nose, hold for a count of four, and let it out through the mouth for a count of eight, then repeat." _**Scott mimes the action. His pulse lowers and his body relaxes**_. "It seems to help me whenever I need to interface with the Remnant."

 **Taavos:** "I didn't ask you alien."

 _ **Scott shrugs and stays silent, choosing to keep his peace. However, a few moments later, Taavos clearly begins to breathe deeply, using a mantra similar to the one Scott prescribed, and slowly but visibly begins to relax.**_

 **SAM:** _{Scott, Taavos's bioelectric field is changing.}_

 _ **Taavos extends his hand over the node, and this time, three small pillars rise to touch his hand. A brief light shines white, a globe of fox-fire, and then, with a hallowed hum, the massive columns covering the end of the Chasm being to move, swiftly retracting deep into the ground to reveal the wide mouth of a natural cavern, hidden by the pillars until that moment.**_

 **Scott:** "Wow… I'm impressed." _{SAM, could we do that?}_

SAM: _{Unknown. It appears that Taavos is able to access systems closed to us. Whether this is because he is an angaran, or because of his… unique situation, is unknown. More data is required. }_

 **Scott:** _{Gotcha.}_

 _ **Taavos wordlessly strides over to Scott, unties the cord from the rock, and with a jerk of his head, gestures for Scott to enter the cavern.**_

 **Cora:** **[Ryder, we're moving up. What was that noise just now? What's going on?]**

 **Scott:** **[Harper, stay back. That's an order.]**

 _ **As soon as they enter the cavern, Taavos strides to another node thrusting from the cave wall, placing his hand over it and interfacing with the Remnant system. In seconds, the one-time entrance is again sealed behind immovable metal.**_

 **Scott:** _{Oh, that's not good.}_

 **SAM:** _{The Remnant metals are blocking conventional communications. However, they do not seem to be interfering with QEC communication. I will relay any orders you have for Lieutenant Harper.}_

 **Scott:** _{Just… stand by, okay? Let's see how this plays out.}_

 _ **Taavos tugs on the rope, jerking on it to lead Scott deeper into the cave. The cavern is composed a blue limestone, a change from the granite and basalt boulders and mountains above the valley. Pale grey stalactites hang from the ceiling, dripping water and minerals onto dark grey stalagmites below. More of the ubiquitous glowing blue mushrooms grow in chinks and crevices at the edge of the cavern, lighting the way through stony pillars and fallen limestone chunks in a pale spectral glow.**_

 _ **A few minutes of shuffling carefully through the semi-darkness, and Taavos turned off into an alcove made practically luminous by profusions of small mushrooms and lichens. A quick motion, and Taavos drags Scott down onto a nearby rock. A moment as Taavos gropes around on Scott's helmet, before finally finding and popping the seals, releasing the smells of dripping water, rock dust, and plant matter to Scott's nose.**_

 _ **Taavos dragged Scott's helmet off his head and tossed it to one side before sitting down on opposite, tucking his rifle over one shoulder, and pulling out a large white pistol from his side and pointing it at Scott.**_

 **Taavos:** "Now, you talk."

 **SAM:** _{Scott, the weapon he is pointing at you is an Isharay, a form of plasma pistol, similar to the asari Acolyte-class shotgun. It fires a single, high-energy plasma burst at sub-light speeds. Specialist Costa recovered one of these after our first altercation with the Roekaar. Testing showed that this weapon, although inaccurate at ranges over fifty feet, and completely dissipates at one-hundred feet, is capable of burning through six inches of steel in a single burst. At this range, a single shot will penetrate your kinetic barriers and burn through your armor and you in approximately 1.56 seconds.}_

 **Scott:** _{Thank you, SAM. Now shut up and let me focus on not getting ventilated by the angry angara.}_ "And? What would you like me talk about? The weather? My shoes?"

"You can start with your name, and why you _vesegara_ have come to _Jarevaon Imasaf_."

"Scott Enfield Ryder, Pathfinder for Ark Hyperion, and my translator just glitched; What did you call me? And I've come to what?"

" _Vesegara_! _Vesegara_! Wanderers, homeless, uprooted people, exiles! And _Jarevaon Imasaf_ is this place, this galaxy!"

"Ah. Actually, we're explorers, and we- that is, humans, call it the Andromeda Galaxy."

"I don't care what you skutting invaders call it. It is the Masaf Shell Galaxy."

"Masaf Shell Galaxy. Great, now we're making progress."

"Shut up!" _**Taavos bounded to his feet and in a single swift and savage moment, punched Scott full in the face. Scott's nasal bones cracked audibly, and his head slams against the cavern wall. Tissues swell, and blood flows up Scott's sinuses and down into Scott's mouth and throat.**_

Taavos: "I… will not…. be mocked by a _vesegara._ "

"Wasn't… mocking you. Gah…" _**Scott carefully and deliberately leans to one side and spits out a wad of blood and spit onto the cavern floor.**_ "You know, I'm getting the feeling that there's something here I'm not getting. Mind telling me what I'm doing wrong so I can stop?"

"You are wrong! You! Aliens! You destroy our homes, take our resources, kill and enslave our people!"

"Ah… so that's how it is. Hunh. I never thought I would end up on _this_ side of the table." _**Scott snorts and spits more blood.**_ _{SAM, could you do something about my nose?}_

 **SAM:** _{I'm doing what I can Scott. It would help if you did not talk.}_

 **Scott:** _{Going to have to disappoint you, SAM.}_ "Look, Taavos; why don't I give you my story, and then you can decide for yourself whether I'm really an invader."

 _ **Taavos says nothing, but retakes his seat and stares unblinking at Scott, waiting for him to begin.**_

 **Scott:** "Let me say, first and foremost, that humans are not kett. Not in a million years. I don't know where the hell those bony bastards come from, but it's nowhere where I come from. I, humans that is, come from what we call the Milky Way Galaxy, from a planet called Earth. It's actually a lot like Havarl: oceans, mountains, deserts, forests, jungles, plains, intense heat and biting cold, and everything in between. It was beautiful… and terrifying. Probably still is, but that's another story."

"Humans evolved as travelers, moving from one place to the next, adapting to the extremes and surviving in the face of environmental and biological extremes. But there was always one constant; the sky above us. The sun, the moon, the stars, the clouds; and there was always something in humans that asked the question: "Are we alone in the universe?"

"It took thousands of years, but we eventually figured out how to leave out world and travel to other planets. And on the first planet, a world we called Mars, practically our next-door-neighbor, the age-old question was answered. Beneath the red sands of Mars we discovered the ruined outpost of a long-lost civilization of a species we came to call Protheans, for the Prothea Planetia where the ruins were found. The Protheans had come to our solar system over fifty-thousand years before, placed the outpost, and then for some unknown reason, chose to leave. In the outpost, we found boxes of Element Zero, the first time we'd ever come into contact with the element, and the ancient wreck of a Prothean star-ship. And the rest, as they say, is history.

"We studied the Prothean ship, and the Prothean archives, and learned how to use Element Zero to travel beyond our solar system. We found other planets, other worlds: some we colonized and some we mined for resources, sure. But we never took what belonged to another, though we did look for others, and especially the Protheans. But when we found them, or rather they found us, it wasn't as explorers, but as attackers and invaders."

"They attacked without warning, claiming that we, the humans, had broken laws, laws we knew nothing about. They attacked our ships, and then they attacked our colonies. Well, we fought back, and managed to drive back the invaders. We were preparing for an all-out war, and then, everything changed. We found out that people who were attacking us, the turians, were acting as part of a police force under an organization known as the Citadel Council, made up of the most powerful groups in the Milky Way Galaxy. Turian, Asari, and Salarian; the Big Three, the Citadel Council, ruling from an ancient Prothean space-station called The Citadel. The Asari and Salarians swept in and ended the battle between Humans and Turians. They brought peace… and the Big Three showed humanity just how small we really were, compared to the forces arrayed out in the greater galaxy: Warlords, slavers, pirates, invasions, rebellions, destruction and mayhem and disaster of every form, with the Citadel and the races under it it's wings standing as the few bastions of peaceful, righteous civilization."

Scott turned his head, gargled, snorted, and spat; mostly mucus, but with some blood yet. "Of course, some of that is propaganda that the Citadel put out. But they weren't far wrong about the disasters. Anyway; The Big Three offered to take humanity under their wing as well. We accepted, but we didn't meekly hide behind the turians guns, the salarians science, or the asari's diplomacy. Humanity carved its own path, building fleets and armies, colonizing worlds, dealing with trouble wherever it reared its head under the banner of the Systems Alliance. And then… our time came. The Geth, a race of sentient machines, launched a surprise attack on humanity, and we responded.

"That war, the Eden Prime War, lasted less than a year. But it changed everything. Humanity proved that we could take on the challenges of the Milky Way Galaxy; that our people were resilient, intelligent, adaptable, charismatic: that our fleets were strong and our resolve unwavering. And, when the Geth attacked the Citadel itself… we proved that we would sacrifice for the greater whole, when our greatest warrior, Commander Shepard, ordered in the Fifth Fleet to guard the escape of the Citadel Council from the station. It took eight cruisers, and over two-thousand lives. But when the smoke settled, humanity stood: bloody, but unbowed. On that day, the Big Three became the Big Four, humanity joining the Citadel Council as a full and equal member."

 _ **Scott paused**_. "Now understand, that all that, happened in less than fifty years. And to me, Humanity joining the Citadel Council happened less than three years ago.

 _ **Taavos snorts**_ : "A story, nothing more-"

 **Scott:** "Ah! But, I'm not finished. There's more to this tale. You wanted to know why we're here, right? Well, I'll tell you. To explore. To do things no one had ever done before. Not in all the recorded history of our galaxy, no one had ever crossed the space between galaxies. Not the turians, not the salarians, not even the asari, and the asari have the highest technological level of any of the council races, including humans."

"About a decade ago, to me at least, the Andromeda Initiative was founded by a woman named Jien Garson with a simple mission: to carry a group of Milky Way residents to the Andromeda Galaxy, the Masaf Shell Galaxy, and discover what was out here. And since it was going to take over six-hundred years just to get to Andromeda in the first place, the powers-that-be decided that whoever chose to go ought to make the move permanent."

 **Taavos:** "Invaders-"

 **Scott:** "Explorers and colonists! We're not an army, we don't have that kind of heavy equipment- the weapons we have are small arms only! Certainly nothing like the fighters and cruisers the kett can field."

 **Taavos:** "Then why?"

 **Scott:** "I said we were explorers. I didn't say we were pacifists, or omnipotent, or all-powerful. The Scourge… we'd never encountered any like it before.

"Look… the only reason we even knew to head to this little corner of Andromeda-"

 **Taavos:** "-Masaf Shell."

 **Scott:** "-Masaf Shell Galaxy was because the Powers-That-Be managed to get some up-to-date pictures from some top-secret super-powerful experimental telescope. Maybe I can show you later. But now… those pictures are six-hundred years out of date. And nothing prepared us for the Scourge."

 **Taavos:** "And if your people are so civilized, why do you fight amongst yourselves? We know of your "exiles" the ones who were cast out! They have attacked the angara – and the ones called the kro-gaan! You speak of peace, yet your kind has brought death to my people. You killed my friends, my subordinates- why should I let you live…?"

"… Are you _trying_ to find a reason to kill me?"

"What?"

"That's what it sounds like. You're trying to find a good enough reason to kill me… but you can't. Why?"

"Why? You are alien. I am Roekaar! That is all the reason I need!"

"Really? Then why am I still alive?"

"I don't know- Why am I even still talking to you!"

"Because you want to know how I can interface with the Remnant," _**Scott answered flippantly.**_ _**Then he blinked as the meaning of what he had said hit him.**_ "Holy shit, you do want to know how I interface with the Remnant."

"I. DON'T. KNOW!" _**Taavos chest heaved, the echoes of his shout thundering around dark limestone walls.**_

"I don't know," _**Taavos repeated, slumping down onto the stones.**_ "Before yesterday, I thought I understood what was wrong in this world. Aliens were the invaders, and the Resistance and the Sages just held everyone back from doing what needed to be done. But now- my mind is filled with images, and I can't make any sense of them. But they give me feelings; joy, anger, fear, pain, sorrow, suffering, and nothing make's sense. And the Remnant – not even the kett, with all of their power for destruction can match the Remnant's creations. The kett raid Havarl constantly, attempting to wrest the secrets of the Remnant from amongst the ruins of our civilization. And then… you, an alien, an invader, come to our planet with the aid of the Resistance, rescue angara from the Remnant, awaken the monoliths, enter the Remnant Abyss and emerge alive where dozens of angara have met their end, and bring me the piece of myself which may mean the salvation of my people… You slaughter my friends… and then you place yourself at my mercy…"

 **Scott:** "Pretty crazy, hunh?"

 **Taavos:** "Madness. Pure madness."

 **Scott:** "It is said that madness and genius are two sides of the same coin."

 **Taavos:** "And are you a genius? You must be, to interface with the Remnant without being angara. What exactly is a… Pathfinder?"

 **Scott:** "Heh. Ask the easy ones, why don't you?"

 **Taavos:** "Well?"

 **Scott:** "A Pathfinder is supposed to be a combination of soldier, scout, scientist, guide, and diplomat: the first person into any situation, with the skills and experience to figure out how to survive and thrive under the most adverse conditions and ensure the continued survival of the Initiative and the people under its care."

 **Taavos:** "How can one person do all that?"

 **Scott:** "One person can't. That's why I've got my team. Soldiers and scientists in equal measure."

 **Taavos:** "And are all Pathfinders human? Do your species maintain control over the others?"

 **Scott:** "Hardly. There should be five Pathfinders: one human, one asari, one salarian, one turian, and one quarian, one for each Ark to cross dark space, with crew to back them up, and a scout ship to carry them."

 **Taavos:** "Then where are they?"

 **Scott:** "That is the fifty billion credit question."

 **Taavos:** "And?"

 **Scott:** "And I don't know. No one does. The plan was for all the Arks to make contact with the Nexus as soon as possible after arriving in the Heleus Cluster, or head for the nearest inhabitable world. The Scourge and the kett pretty well tossed that plan into the fire. I don't know if the other Pathfinders are alive, or dead, or something worse. But right now, I'm the only Pathfinder the Initiative has."

 **Taavos:** "And if I killed you?"

 **Scott:** "Then someone else would take my place. I may be good, but I'm also expendable. And then my sister would probably hunt you down and gut you like a fish, after finding my ghost and beating the crap out of me for dying with my hands tied behind my back."

 **Taavos:** "You have a sister?"

 **Scott:** "Yeah. Twin sister. I'm the soldier, she's the scientist. Archaeologist, actually."

 **Taavos:** "Twins!" _**Taavos face is difficult to read in the dim light of the mushrooms dotting the walls. However, his features suddenly seem to slacken, and the grip on his gun loosens noticeably on the gun.**_ "You… are a twin? Which one were you, the first or the second?"

 **Scott:** "Um… the second."

 _ **Taavos appears visibly shaken, rising and walking away to stand facing the far wall, hidden from view.**_

SAM: _{Scott, twins have special significance across multiple human and alien cultures. It is possible that the angara might hold similar beliefs.}_

Scott: _{Yeah, well, stow any "chosen one" crap you might have. I need to focus. And seriously, can you do anything about my nose?}_

SAM: _{I have done all I can. Unless you can reach your medi-gel, you will simply have to "suffer in silence".}_

 **Scott:** _{SAM, if I didn't know any better, I'd think you'd made a joke- stow it! Here he comes back.}_

 **Taavos reenters the circle of lights from the mushrooms. His gun is holstered, but his firaan is drawn and held tightly in one large hand.**

 **Scott:** _{Oh, shit. That does not look good. SAM, switch-up: Vanguard Profile. If he makes a move, I want to be ready.}_

 **SAM:** _{Scott, switching up profiles at this time would undoubtedly alert Taavos that something is happening. The element of surprise may serve better.}_

 **Scott:** _{Just be ready, okay!}_

 **Taavos:** "Do you truly wish to save my people?"

 **Scott:** "Yes. Yes, I do."

 _ **After a moment, Taavos sighs through his nose and sheaths his knife.**_ "I have not forgiven you for the deaths of my friends. But I will wait until Havarl is saved."

"Fair enough."

 _ **Taavos unbinds Scott's hands, and wordlessly they start to move deeper into the cavern.**_

 _ **The limestone cavern extends for another fifty yards before the passage is cut by another line of Remnant pillars. Taavos quickly finds another interface and drops the pillars, revealing another chamber, although his one is packed with remnant blocks thrusting up out of the floor in every direction. Scott and Taavos advance into the space, carefully picking a path through the blocks.**_

 _ **Scott turns a sharp corner, and almost trips over the metallic remains of a Remnant bot.**_ "Woah, watch it." _ **More Remnant bots lie across the stone floor: an Observer drone, several of the two-legged Assemblers, and even the pitifully silent pair of legs and cannon of a Nullifier**_. "Woah. What did this? Doesn't look like they were shot. It looks like they just shut down."

"Zorai." _**Taavos kneels by the Nullifiers and sweeps one hand across it, raising a heavy film of dust, which must have been undisturbed since Zorai passed through.**_ "Zorai was able to make them stop."

"How? I mean, I've heard that Zorai could talk to the Remnant, make this stuff work, but I never found out exactly how Zorai figured it out. I mean, it's not like there's a manual."

"Zorai… watched the watchers."

 _ **Scott's face screws up into an incredulous twist, the expression somehow registering with Taavos so he responded.**_

 **Taavos:** "That's all I'm getting. I don't know what it means. The others slept, but Zorai… but _I_ stayed awake. Unmoving, but seeing. Learning."

"Hunh." _**Scott bends down to examine the dead nullifier more closely.**_ "Sounds like the stasis fields around the first monolith. Maybe Zorai was able to shake off the effects. Maybe it changed him?"

 _ **Taavos makes the odd breathy rumbling sound in his throat which, from Jaal, indicated non-committal agreement.**_

 _ **The cavern stretches on, twisting back on itself to indicate that it had once held an underground river. Remnant pillars now appeared regularly, thrusting up from the floor yet leaving a clear path for Scott and Taavos to follow. More bioluminescent mushrooms light the way, and small bushy plants thrust up from cracks.**_

 _ **Occasionally, they run across another deactivated Remnant bot, covered with the film of being undisturbed for hundreds of years. However, passive and active scans reveal no new data or the manner in which Zorai deactivated the drones.**_

 _ **The path eventually splits, the main cavern continuing onwards into the blue trimmed shadows, but another splitting off to the side and blocked by a wall of metal.**_

 **Taavos:** "Here. There's something here. I remember." _**Taavos steps to the door, stretching out one hand. Passive scans detect a change in Taavos's bioelectric field; increasing in intensity, expanding until it reaches the blocked portal, and a sudden field spike precipitates a concomitant reaction from the metal which slides easily into the surrounding limestone, revealing a kind of grotto. Remnant pillars thrust from the floor forming one wall of the grotto, the internal circuitry giving off a green spectral light and blending with the bio-electric blue coming from a two-meter tall mushroom growing on the other side.**_

 _ **Right in the middle of the grotto, surrounded on all sides by more small glowing blue mushrooms, is the much decayed remains of an angara. A visual conformation shows the recurve lower leg-bones and a large domed skull with thick burrs on the back and side of the head where large muscles once attached.**_

 _ **Taavos slowly walks to the small mound, going to his hands and knees as he stared down at the eerie grave marker. Scott activates his omni-tool and scans the cadaver.**_

 **SAM:** _{Organic matter. Ancient. Reads as angara. The DNA corroborates with Taavos and angaran skeleton found in the Remnant Abyss.}_

 **Scott:** "It's Zorai.

 **Taavos:** "She died here. Before she could get to the third monolith."

"Zorai was female? But you said, "He" just a few minutes ago."

"I- It's- it's like pictures and words, crowding together, slipping out through a fish-net. All my life, I was told that Zorai was a hero, that he-she- could command the Remnant to save lives when the Scourge came. And when I went to the sages, and they declared that I was the reincarnation of Zorai, I believed… a _bosanj,_ like me."

"A male angara?"

"Yes."

"Does Zorai being a woman change anything?"

 _ **Taavos says nothing, extending one arm into the grave and carefully extracts a small hexagonal block of Remnant metals. Taavos closes his eyes briefly, and the block opens up like a flower petal. From the box emerges a tired female voice speaking in a dialect of angaran shelesh.**_

Zorai: [Audio Log]: " **Builder machines exhaust me. Mind and body must be engaged wholly or the attempt fails. {Sounds of coughing} I can't stop. Without the monoliths, the vault fails. Without the vault, the planet dies. But, my body won't… stars** _ **burn**_ **Dagur and the Roekaar… I cannot teach minds… overwrought by their emotions. The Builders machines… never meant… weapons. So tired. Sleep. Just-a moment….."** _**{Sounds of cloth and sand rustling, labored breathing growing faint, and finally silence.}**_

 _ **Scott gently reaches out one hand covers the Remnant recording device.**_ "We should get moving. We've still got a world to save."

"Yes." _**Taavos rises, careful not to disturb Zorai's final resting place,**_ "I feel – I know, it's not much further."

 _ **After re-sealing Zorai's tomb, Taavos and Scott return to following the main cavern, Taavos in the lead.**_

 **Scott:** _{SAM, have we run across anything on the Roekaar? The original Roekaar, not our Roekaar.}_

 **SAM:** _{Negative Pathfinder, although Jaal has alluded to they're being fierce warriors.}_

 **Scott:** _{Damn. I knew we should have tried to pump the Sages for more information.}_

 **SAM:** _{We are on a deadline, Scott. Should I transmit your request to Jaal?}_

 **Scott:** _{Do it.}_

 **Taavos:** "We're here."

 _ **The passage is blocked by another Remnant portal. It takes seconds for Taavos to cause the doors to slide open.**_

 **Scott:** "Holy-smoke-Bullwinkle!"

 _ **The cave opened onto a form of ante-chamber, lined on both sides by spectral green and black pillars, before opening up exponentially from an overlook onto an enormous cavern, so large that the back wall couldn't be seen. And at the center, thrusting out of the darkness below with glassine immutability and awesome presence is top of the third and final Remnant Monolith.**_

 _ **Taavos:**_ "The lost monolith. Finally."

 _ **Scott:**_ "Holy-smokes… this is incredible! It's like we're inside a blue hole!"

 _ **Taavos:**_ "Blue… hole?"

 _ **Scott:**_ "Something from my home planet. A blue hole is basically a giant underwater sinkhole, out in the ocean. Starts out as a sinkhole or natural cavern, and over time the water cuts away at the inside making it bigger on the inside than the hole above. Look at this place!" _**Scott laughs in delight.**_ "My God! Sara is going to _flip_ when she finds out she missed this."

Taavos: "What do we do now?"

Scott: "Now it's my time to shine. First we need to find a way down to the bottom of this thing. And right over there…"

" _ **Right over there" is one of the tell-tale shining-blue orbs to indicate the presence of a Remnant gravity-well. A moment to handshake with the well's systems, the floor opens up beneath them, and Scott and Taavos start floating down, descending steadily past rough rocky walls on one side and glass-slick metal on the other.**_

 _ **Two hundred meters down, they finally reached the bottom of the cavern. The monolith looms over them, a ships prow the size of mountains, cutting through the caverns shadows with the clarity of straight lines, gentle curves, and smooth planes, illuminated from within by the cool calm blue-white light of its internal circuitry through quartz-clouded darkness.**_

 **Scott:** "Look at it. Only thing like this in the Milky Way is the Citadel, and the Protheans built that more than fifty-thousand years ago. God, this is beautiful!"

 **Taavos:** "It is. Incredible."

 _ **They find the Remnant console nearby. Scott places his hand across the triangular blocks within, and we begin the process of interfacing and activating the monolith.**_

 **Scott:** "This could take a while. While I'm working, maybe you could answer a few questions. Like who is Dagur?"

 _ **Taavos is silent for a moment. Then,**_ "If you have climbed the Ascent at Mithrava, you already know. There is a statue of him on the eastern face."

"You mean Dagur and the Roekaar were knights in shining armor?"

"What is a "k-nite"?"

"A class of human warriors from over a thousand years ago; Rode around in heavy armor and used a variety of weapons, mainly the lance and sword, to kill their enemies, mainly each other. They died out as a class after chemically-propelled weapons like guns and cannon came on the scene."

"That is… interesting."

"So what's the story behind Dagur?"

"Dagur de Mithrava. Dagur of Mithrava. A name almost as famous now as Zorai, although in days past he was almost forgotten. The sages say that long ago, the civilization of the Angara stretched across the Masaf Shell Galaxy, touching star, every light, with its own warmth. Knowledge, joy, and understanding spread from planet to planet with the angara. But then, one day the Scourge appeared. The Scourge was jealous of the light of the angara, and sought to kill it. The Scourge struck across our worlds, appearing at random, but mainly wherever there were people: cities, towns, villages, homes. No place was safe; not the grounds, not the sea, not the sky, not even the void of space. In the days following the Scourge's arrival, our worlds were in chaos. Our technology could not save us, because the Scourge would not bear its presence, and attacked. Only the Remnant could withstand the Scourge's touch. Zorai came from the ruins, filled with their knowledge, and gathered the survivors. She took them to the tower, opened the way, and commanded the guardians to stand aside. They gathered food, and pieces of what had once been of our civilization, and preserved them. Those were… bad days, of death and pain and suffering."

"So what about Dagur?"

"Dagur was Roekaar, one of a class of warriors of those days: protectors and killers. Legends say that Dagur came alone and stood vigil at the base of Mithrava, risking his life to gather food in the jungle for the survivors above, and guarding the way against animals and… darker things."

"And what does Zorai remember?"

"A warrior, and a leader, embittered by pain and loss. Who provided food and protection, but demanded payment in return; healing, and weapons, and teachings from Zorai. Dagur desired power, power that Zorai tried to teach him, to speak to the Remnant, but he would not put aside his anger, or his ambitions."

"Which were?"

"A return of everything that had been lost; based upon the command and control of the Remnant devices, especially the guardians, with Dagur and his warriors at the lead."

"Sounds like a petty warlord to me."

"The day Dagur took Zorai under his protection to the eastern monolith, saw her spend days in meditation, and finally activated it; they both knew that he would not stop until either he could command Remnant, or she commanded them for him."

"Sounds like a really petty warlord to me. So what happened?"

"Zorai needed protection to get to the last monolith. Dagur insisted on bringing many warriors with him. Wild, desperate creatures, to see the power of the Remnant, see Zorai's power over them, and see Dagur's power over Zorai. Zorai was old, and weak from her work. When they reached the first wall, Zorai told them to go aside while she opened the way, but summoned many Observers and Builders to the wall, to fight Dagus and his desperate ones, and then closed the way behind her."

"But the effort left her weak, and… she… I, died."

"And what happened to Dagur?"

"The sages say he returned eventually, but without his warriors or Zorai. Dagur never again stood upon Mithrava's pinnacle. He remained, alone, in the jungle and the chasm, doing as he had done before. I know now… that he was waiting for Zorai to return. But she never did, and he died alone, with no family to carry his spirit into the next life."

 **Scott:** _{Damn… I don't even know what to say to that.}_

 **SAM:** _{Perhaps no words are necessary at this time, Scott. Focus on the task at hand please.}_

 **Scott:** _{Gotcha.}_

 _ **It requires only a few more moments, and then the monolith begins to scintillate and aurora. A final handshake, and the activation process is completed.**_

 **Scott:** "That's it."

 **Taavos:** "It's done. You finished what Zorai could not, so long ago."

 **Scott:** "The job's not finished yet."

 **Taavos:** "True. But there is… a peace in this for me, and for Zorai. She didn't complete what she set out to do, but she didn't fail. The two monoliths she reactivated kept Havarl going. Without them, the planet would have been swallowed by the Scourge. Go on to the vault, Pathfinder Scott Enfield Ryder. I think I'll stay here a moment. I have a lot to think about."

 **Scott:** "And when you're done? Will I be seeing you again?"

 **Taavos:** "I don't know. But after… look for me at Daar Pelaav. And then… we will see."

 _ **Scott nods, turns, and heads back to the gravity well. A moment to interface, and Scott rises back to the antechamber.**_

 **Cora: [Ryder, you copy?]**

 **Scott: [I copy Harper, what's up?]**

 **Cora: [The gate is down, and Peebee is detecting a strong Remnant signal emanating from deep in the cave. You find that monolith?]**

 **Scott: [Affirmative. Come on in, Harper. You're all going to want to see this.]**

 **…..**

 _ **End of Incident Log**_

 **…..**

 **Authors Notes:**

 **Apologies of the long wait. Life happens, and this was a beast to write, the longest I've done thus far.**

 **Some questions:**

 **What is the color of angaran blood?**

 **Does anyone know where in the Milky Way the Nexus was built?**

 **(** _ **Hyperion**_ **– Human Ark. Luna Orbit, Sol System (Earth).** _ **Leusinia**_ **– Asari Ark. Piares Orbit, Parnitha System (right next door to Thessia).** _ **Natanus**_ **– Turian Ark. Aventen Orbit, Trebia System (Aventen (1** **st** **Planet) Palaven (3** **rd** **Planet)).** _ **Paarchero**_ **– Salarian Ark. Planet unknown, System unknown.** _ **Kee'lah Si'yah**_ **– Quarian Ark (and others). Planet unknown, System unknown.)**

 **How do krogan sleep? Standing up? Sitting down? Lying on their humps? Hammocks? Nests?**

 **How does a society and culture function when it's members** **"as a people are very free with their emotions, demonstrative and "larger than life"." Examples? What happens when this is taken to the extreme? What would be the 'baseline" for this culture?**

 **What is a good name for the blue mushrooms? Latin or Shelesh.**

 _ **Vesegara**_ **– Shelesh, roughly "exile"**

 _ **Bosanj**_ **\- Shelesh, roughly "male person"**

 **Shelesh –angaran trade language.**

 **Vesegara – Shelesh. Exile, vagabond, vagrant.**

 **As always, Read, Review, and keep on the lookout for the next chapter. I'm not done yet.**


	40. Chapter 38

**Thoughts from Andromeda part 38**

By ElementalsAdvocate

…

 **Year 2819. Shipboard Time 11:47, Day 35 after Arrival. Andromeda Galaxy, Heleus Cluster, Faroang System, Planet Havaarl, Daar Pelaav**

…

 **Scott Ryder's personal log**. Maybe my last. Everything's gone for shits. The vault is fixed and Havarl's on its way to recovery, but now I've got to fight Taavos in a duel to the death. I guess now that Zorai's personal quest completed, the wise old woman is gone and the hacked-off soldier is back with a vengeance. Shit!

Okay- okay. Back up Scott and start from the beginning.

Fixing the vault was actually a pretty simple process. Going in, there was only two big rooms before the central chamber, and we didn't even need to find work-arounds to get to the cool-off console when the purifiers fired up in the system restart. I was beat by the time we got out of the vault, but we were all in a good mood heading back to the Tempest, and we swung by Daar Pelaav to give the researchers the good news.

Thing is, they already knew, and were out in force to greet us on our way past the Daar, and it wasn't just the researchers either. It looked like every damn Angara we'd met in the ruins on peaceful terms was waiting for us, including Head Sage Esmus and some of the other Angara we'd met at Mithrava. When we finally came into view of Daar Pelaav, the sages started singing in this strange dialect that our translators only got one word in five. Jaal said that it was a welcoming song from the time of Zorai, intended to welcome guests and honor returning heroes. Didn't understand it… but it sounded nice. A bit like some of the old African tribal chants, everyone knowing the words but bringing their own tone to the song to blend into a harmonious whole.

By the time we got to the buildings the song was over, and the whole crowd rushed us, waving and cheering at the top of their lungs. A rush of strange and alien yet smiling and astonished faces.

I almost didn't see Taavos come up. I just caught this flash of orange out of the corner of one eye. I turned around, and there he was, pushing his way through the crowd towards me with this look on his face that practically screamed "I'm going to kill you, motherfucker!" Packed in as we were, he almost got his chance, or he would have if Drack hadn't roared to make the pigeons fly, and Jaal came out of nowhere and laid Taavos out with a right cross to the jaw.

Heh, totally spoiled the mood.

Then Esmus waded in, and Taavos started shouting about his dead friends, and demanding that I duel him to the death, and at that point everybody was shouting. Took ten minutes for Esmus and Kiiran Daals to settle things down, and that was after Esmus and his sages dragged Taavos inside the research building to chill out.

Anyway, bottom line here, is that with Zorai's prerogative fulfilled Taavos now wants my blood to pour over the graves of his friends. Except we didn't murder them; we fought them in full combat, something Jaal can attest to. So, I have the option to refuse Taavos's challenge. But, if I do, then word will get out that I refused to answer for the deaths of angara (Roekaar or not) and cause more problems for the Initiative down the line. Plus there's the whole mess on either side if one of us kills the other.

Esmus says there's a way for both of us to get out alive. But someone needs to get the shit beaten out of them first. I hope he's got a better plan than that.

If this does turn out to be my last log… I'm sorry Sara. Please, don't hold it against the rest of the angara. During this trip, I've come to realize just how much these people have lost, how far they've come, and what they might lose again if the kett have their way. Help them. Don't hate them.

 **Pathfinder Scott Ryder, out.**

…

 **Authors Notes:**

 **To Deathzealot: Thank you so much for the review. I'll try and answer your points as best I can.**

 **About the missing lines. If you feel that I have missed something or omitted something, please feel free to PM me. I'm planning on revising Thoughts once I hit 50 chapters, so feel free to let me know about any specific problems or you found. This goes for any of my readers as well.**

 **The style: I admit I've often found myself regretting the format I chose when I started writing Thoughts from Andromeda. Originally, I pictured something similar to the Captains Logs from the Star Trek series. I'm literally making this up as I go along, and trying to write Scott's POV and SAM's POV simultaneously is not easy. However, the story of one cannot be told without the other. It is a burden I bear gladly, and I thank you for your patience.**

 **The Quarian Ark: I really don't know what to say, except that I'm sticking to the story as best I can, and Quarian Ark is part of that story. Your question is in two parts: the practicality in terms of the story, and the practicality in terms of taking the time and money to put multiple and highly variable species in one ship, however big that ship might be.**

 **As to the story, I'm waiting for the last ME: Andromeda book Mass Effect: Annihilation to come out this summer to settle what happens with the Quarian Ark before I add more than passing references to the Keelah Si'yah. The Quarian Ark is part of the Andromeda Initiative, so until I find out otherwise, Scott and SAM assume that the Quarian Ark is still on its way and will act accordingly.**

 **As to the in-universe practicality… I can come up with a lot of reasons why the quarians would be picked to command the fifth ark. But primarily, they are the best fit for the job. The Hanar may have the sixth largest fleet in the Milky Way, but the Quarians are number five. The Quarians have a unique culture and society based around large ships and long-term space-travel which makes them (as a group) ideal for a project like the Andromeda Initiative. Also, the quarians, baring their need for suits and special medical needs like clean-rooms and antibiotics, don't require a fancy environment all to their own like the volus or the hanar in order to operate effectively and efficiently onboard any of the Initiative's vessels. Can you imagine a hanar attempting a boarding action, or a volus perform repairs in a small, cramped duct? Admittedly the elcor could fall into that category of difficulty, but at least elcor breath nitrogen-oxygen like the Citadel races. As for the quarian bias against Artificial Intelligence, all I can say is that there are mavericks in any culture (Namely Alec Ryder who made SAM in the first place and the other Pathfinders who agreed to have the SAM implants.)**

 **As always, read, review, and enjoy.**


	41. Chapter 39

**Thoughts from Andromeda part 39**

By ElementalsAdvocate

…

 **Year 2819. Shipboard Time 13:00 , Day 35 after Arrival. Andromeda Galaxy, Heleus Cluster, En route to Zheng He System from Faroang System**

…

 **Log Addendum.**

 _ **Scott enters the Tempest from the cargo-bay hatch. His right hand is in an improvised sling across his chest. His left hand has an artistic anchor chain painted in dark blue ink around his wrist and onto the back of his hand, traveling up his arm but hidden by his jumpsuit. He is followed closely by Lieutenant Harper, Vetra Nyx, Pellessaria B'Sayle, Nakmor Drack, and Jaal ama Darav.**_

 **Scott:** "Kallo, you there?"

 **Kallo:** **[Here Ryder.]**

 **Scott:** "Get me off this planet, on the double."

 **Kallo:** **[Something we should know about?]**

 **Scott:** "Never mind, Kallo. Just get us in the air."

 **Kallo: [Yes Pathfinder, I'm spinning up the engines now. We'll be out of the atmosphere in two minutes. Estimated time to the Nexus is one hundred-twenty-three hours.]**

 **Scott:** "The sooner the better Kallo. Pathfinder out."

 **Cora:** "We need to get you to the infirmary Ryder."

 **Scott:** "Like fuck I'm going to sit in front of the corpse-"

 **Cora:** "Hey Vetra, what's Ryder's Rule Number Three?"

 **Vetra:** "If you're hurt, go to the infirmary. Even if it's me."

 **Scott:** "I hate you both."

 **Cora:** "Infirmary, Ryder. Now. The rest of you: clean up and drop off your equipment at the armory."

 _ **Scowling but silent, Scott leaves the cargo hold, followed closely Lieutenant Harper, up the short ramp and around to the mid-ships of the Tempest and the Medical Bay.**_

…

 **Authors Notes: Yes, I'm still alive. Just a short piece for now. Still editing the monster I've spent the last month pounding on. Hang in there loyal readers.**


	42. Chapter 40

**Thoughts from Andromeda part 40**

By ElementalsAdvocate

…

 **Year 2819. Shipboard Time 23:02, Day 35 after Arrival. Andromeda Galaxy, Heleus Cluster, En route to Zheng He System from Faroang System**

…

SAM… **start recording**.

Jeesus, I'm tired. No, seriously, I've been awake since yesterday morning, and I haven't had much beside a couple of cat naps to take the edge off… and some drugs. I don't remember what it was exactly that Vetra gave me after I came back from the Lost Monolith, but it worked.

 _{I believe it was Instant Coffee in a tube, plus various mild pharmaceuticals. Not harmful, at least in the short term. It is just as well that you were not required to operate heavy machinery.}_

… Holy fuck, SAM. I think you just made a joke.

 _{Yes. I have been practicing on Suvi, with her permission. She suggested that a statement of fact congenitally related to the topic at hand, stated in what she termed as "dead-pan" tone of voice can often elicit a response. I am however still developing my contextual references for application in the field.}_

Well, keep at it.

Ugh… I hurt all over right now. Havarl was a… I want to say "bitch" of a world, but Mom would be disappointed in me if I did. And anyway, it's not true. It's a big world. A whole planet. That's been sick. And under attack. And the people adapted in kind. So it is what it is.

Still fucking hurts though. A busted nose, bruises, cuts, and a broken right hand. And my nodes still haven't stopped aching since I – I –

Forget it.

Long story short, we did what we came to do. We helped Jaal help the researchers, saved some turians, and we even managed to pull Havarl out of its downward spiral. We'll see where things go from here. Feels pretty good, now that I say it. So why do I feel like crap?

Because I don't feel like I deserve it. Because that duel with Taavos has got me wound up like a god-damned top.

Fuck.

Okay, Scott, you know the drill. Start from the beginning and work your way through it, no matter how confusing things get.

Taavos, that poor, benighted head-case, tried to kill me. And failed. And then tried to kill me again through some old Havarl tradition of an honor duel to "appease the souls of his slaughtered soldiers", or some shit like that. And I, like a fucking bull-goose fool, agreed to it. But I didn't want to kill him. Heh, hows that for stupid idealism? The guys trying to kill me and I go into the ring planning how not to kill him.

Fuck it.

Since this was tradition rather than law, Esmus took charge. First he pulled Taavos into the base for a quiet talk, and then he did the same for me and explained a few things.

Essentially, back in the bad old days after the Scourge disaster, the angara of Havarl went a little feral. Instead of depending on society for order and protection they depended upon family groups and friend groups. I'm paraphrasing. Those are the closest translations I got from Esmus via the translator.

The families were pretty self-explanatory: bands of females coming together with their men for mutual protection, raising children, harvesting the land, and scavenging off the bits of higher technology the Scourge hadn't entirely destroyed. Then there were the friend groups; essentially wandering groups of young people, predominantly males, traveling the land as hunters and scavengers, alternately operating as societal aid and societal menace. Mostly the males end up settling down with one family or another. But over time these _bosara_ groups developed their own rules and laws and traditions, and these are taken very seriously. This includes duels to settle disagreements, and more serious problems.

The whole thing sounds like a Frat house to me. But then, I signed up for the Marines before I even finished high school and never got the chance to go to college before I joined the Initiative.

Fuck.

Anyway, long story very short, Esmus said that the only way for both of us to get out of the ring alive was to prove that the match was "unfair". Or maybe "unequal" would be a better word. Essentially I had to prove that Taavos shouldn't be fighting me, by defeating him, not killing him, and taking his knife, and presenting it to Esmus before answering questions as to "if I killed Taavos's people" and then "why did I kill them?"

The angara threw together a rough ring out of crates and boxes out on the shuttle pad so we had some privacy from the rest of the base. Only Cora and Jaal were allowed to come with me, and only Esmus and a couple of other Sages were up there with Taavos to act as, I don't know- seconds or something.

So Esmus called Taavos and I into the ring, and the first thing he did was ask us to give our names and talk about our families. Taavos tried to protest, but Esmus shut him up by saying "you brought the rites and traditions of the Havara into this Taavos, so we will do as the rites and traditions of the Havara demand. Names and families now." Heh, I liked that.

Taavos started; first giving his name as "Taavos ama Zorai" and then giving this long list of relatives. Brothers, sisters, multiple mothers, aunts, uncles, but no father, and no grandparents or children either. And most of those relatives were dead, but especially his mothers and one twin sister.

Fuck. Isn't that a kick in the quad? Taavos was a twin as well, and the brother of a dead sister. Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck!

After that, my rendition was bitterly short. "Scott Enfield Ryder, Pathfinder for the Ark Hyperion and the Andromeda Initiative. My mother was Helen Ryder, my father was Alec Ryder, and I have one sister, my twin: Sara Elizabeth Ryder."

Esmus and the other angara were a little… I guess the word is perturbed when I was done talking. Esmus asked if I had any other family at all and I told him no, that everyone who was related to me by blood was dead except for my sister.

Esmus asked then that Taavos declare his grievance. Taavos stated that I had led an attack upon the Roekaar at the Lone Monolith and killed everyone under Taavos's command. Esmus asked if I reputed Taavos's grievance. I said I didn't, that I had indeed led the attack on the Roekaar's compound and I had killed many angara in the compound. Esmus had explained this to me before hand; that establishing the facts of the matter was a formal part of opening a death duel. It is understood that there are reasons behind the actions of the offenders, and it is up to the duelists to reveal their reasons through the course of the duel. Sounded fucking convoluted to me, but it's an alien culture. Humans haven't been much better down the centuries.

Esmus asked Taavos to rethink this, to take a moment and talk this out. Taavos called him "a skutting thin-brain" and told him to get on with it. Esmus told us to go to our respective corners and wait for his signal.

We were only allowed a couple of people to stand watch over us. Jaal had volunteered immediately to stand in, and although Drack and Vetra also volunteered, Cora glared them both down and exerted her right as my XO to be there for the duel. Taavos had a couple of sages standing by him, and Esmus was in charge, with Chief Researcher Kiiran Daals representing the angara at the base.

Esmus called out to the stars for guidance, and told us to begin. Jaal handed me his _firaan_ , I turned around, and the fight was on.

The fight almost ended right then and there. Angara have legs practically made for jumping, as I've seen from Jaal and Taavos, and the roekaar I've fought. They charge forward, their legs acting like springs, compressing and erupting like those on a frog or a gazelle. Taavos leapt at me, trying to take me down with a sudden rush and a low disemboweling thrust.

Without SAM, I'd have died right there. As it was, he almost got me. Almost. Jaal's punch earlier had taught me something: Taavos had a glass jaw. Marine training kicked in, and I snapped my left foot right into Taavos's face. When he recoiled, I advanced, secured his knife hand, threw him to the deck, secured his arm, and told Taavos to drop the knife. Taavos called me a _skutar buutraan_ , whatever that meant, but it couldn't be anything good considering he spat it at me through bloody-blue lips.

So I yanked his arm out of its socket.

While Taavos screamed, he also let go of his knife. I grabbed it and let Taavos go, and while he flopped around on the deck, I presented his knife to Esmus. This was all part of Esmus plan to keep me from having to kill Taavos. By proving I could easily defeat Taavos, I proved that the duel was unfair, and therefore, would get thrown out, or at least postponed. Only Esmus didn't stick to the script he'd given me.

Instead of declaring the match over and done, Esmus took the knife, and asked me "Why do you fight?"

SAM?

…

 **Scott:** "I fight to live. I fight to protect others. I fight to safeguard my life and the lives of those who look to me.

…

Esmus let his sages attend to Taavos. I'll say this for those monkish sharps: they may not have much to do with the real world but they know how to put their own back togehter. It took the pair of them less than a minute to get Taavos's arm back in its socket, and another minute before he was back on his feet. Looked pissed as hell. We went to our respective corners, Esmus made the call, and we went at it again.

This time Taavos was more cautious, moving backwards and forwards, twisting and turning, pacing back and forth like a tiger in a cage, looking for an angle he could exploit, circling closer and closer. I let him get close, just staying loose and silent.

Taavos tried a feint, a set of high-low cuts and jabs. I dropped my knife, blocked his arm, secured his wrist, kneed him in the gut, and threw him over my shoulder while twisting his knife out of his hand before kicking him in the head. That got me a few dirty looks from the sages I can tell you.

…

 **Esmus:** "Why do you kill?"

 **Scott:** "I kill so that others won't have to. I kill to preserve the lives of those behind me and those beside me. I kill because sometimes the only way to save lives, lives must be taken."

I guess Taavos got desperate. Or maybe he just got pissed about how easy it was for us to take him. He couldn't beat me in a straight fight, so he decided to push me with words and insults. Fucker. Mother-… no. No, I will not give him the satisfaction.

…

 _ **{Addendum}**_

 **Taavos:** "So you justify killing my friends to save lives. _Skutting valkama_! Even if you manage to force a draw, I will still hunt your kind down. I will find your sister and destroy her, just as the kett destroyed mine! I will-!"

…

To be honest I don't remember much about the next few seconds. I do remember this kind of cold fury, and this tingling sensation all through my body that turned into a hum, like an electrical cable with too much juice running through it. SAM?

 _{You performed a biotic Charge. A short one, and of limited power compared to the accounts of the asari or the research of the biotic corps in the Systems Alliance military. This is not surprising, considering that you had turned off your amp.}_

SAM… I don't know Charge. I've never practiced it, never even attempted it. It's a whole other biotic discipline.

 _{However, you have read the theory behind the technique, and having seen Lieutenant Harper perform biotic Charge. That coupled with my enhancements, and you instinctively performed the technique to effect.}_

Yeah, if you can call beating Taavos's face into hamburger "effective". God!

 _{What do you remember?}_

I remember hearing Cora's voice, the taste of metal in my mouth, looking down and seeing Taavos. Except he was different than from the way he was before the fight started. His face was covered in splashes of blue and flecks of red over the black lines of his face paint. Then I realized that the blue splashes were his blood, and the red spots… were mine.

 _ **Scott flexes his right hand, encased in its thin plastic cast, rubbing it against the bandages on his left arm.**_ SAM, what happened?

 _{You performed a short biotic Charge, covering the ten feet between you and Taavos in less than a second and catching Taavos by surprise. You used your left hand to intercept Taavos's weapon and knock it aside, although you sustained a small gash in the process. We punched him in the nose with our right hand, and then-}_

Wait-what? What was that?

 _{Apologies, Pathfinder. The memory is… charged. I am still adapting to these moments of instinctual fury. It has many names. Humans call it the berserker rage or "going berserk", krogan: the blood-rage, while asari refer to it as the "heart-rage". Your father was already used to the ebb and flow of life and death struggles, and his N7 training allowed him to control this "fight-or-flight" response. His reactions in combat were therefore extremely controlled throughout our time together.}_

Starting to regret being linked with a newbie?

 _{No. It's just different. I will do better next time. Should I continue?}_

Please.

 _{You punched Taavos in the face, dazing him. When he attempted to retreat, you seized his right kuo-tendril, and used it as leverage to strike him repeatedly in the face, chest, gut, even head-butting him. He attempted to electrocute you through his tendrils, but failed to make you release your grip. He became backed against the dock-fence, and you continued to strike him in fury.}_

Fuck. _**Scott buried his face in his hands.**_

 _{When Taavos stopped fighting, you stopped hitting him.}_

What? That's it?

 _{No. Lieutenant Harper attempted to enter the ring to stop the fight, but Jaal intercepted her. Nevertheless, her call seemed to "wake you up" enough to notice Taavos had stopped fighting. At which point you let him go, though not without difficulty.}_

Fuck yeah. I grabbed his tendril so hard it was like trying to twist over-worked wire straight to open my hand. When I finally let go, I could see the bruised imprint of my fingers in his skin. Heh… never did that before.

And I don't want to fucking do it again.

 _{We will do better next time, Scott. We will_ both _do better, next time.}_

Yeah, well… anyway. I let go of Taavos and he dropped like a sack of potatoes. The only thing holding him up was the fence around the dock. I noticed our knives lying on the deck plating where we'd dropped them, picked them up, stumbled over to Esmus and handed them over.

Esmus just looked at me with that pale face of his. Like looking into the face of the moon on a silent night in June, when you're all alone and it's warm enough and bright enough to lay everything bare to the calm lumen glow. But Esmus waited, and waited, until Taavos started to stand back up, before gesturing the sages to help the bloody angara to his feet.

And then, when Taavos was awake and conscious enough to sit up straight and listen, Esmus asked his last question.

…

 **Esmus:** "Why have you killed angara?"

 **Scott:** "Because the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one. Because I didn't have time to sit down and talk. Because I didn't have time to sit down and endure their blows and their misplaced rage and scorn. Because I have people depending on me to push forward, even if it kills me. Even if it gets others killed. Because no matter what I do, people will die. I cannot go back, and I cannot turn aside and place this burden on someone else's shoulders. So the only path I have is forward, even if that path takes me through a river of blood."

 **Esmus:** "Explain."

 **Scott:** "This world is beautiful. But this world is killing itself and the angara. I had the means to save both. But to do that, I had to get through angara who see me as a threat and want to kill me without ever having known me. So what was I supposed to do? I tried talking, and I was threatened, beaten, and had a loaded gun shoved in my face. If it weren't for my team, I would have been killed right then and there. So we fought, and killed angara. But we didn't slaughter them. The ones who fought we killed clean. The ones who ran we didn't pursue. Because ultimately our mission, my mission is to save lives, not take them. But sometimes… sometimes the universe is shit. And all we can do is forgive each other, and most of all… forgive ourselves."

…

Well, after that touching remark, Esmus told us to go back inside the base and wait for him there, that there was just one more ritual to observe before we could leave.

When we went back inside the base, the atmosphere was totally different from the one we'd seen on our arrival. Everyone just avoided us; avoided looking at us, or speaking to us, or doing anything with us.

Drack had set himself up on a crate in a corner, with Peebee and Vetra ensconced nearby. When we came up, Peebee started firing off questions and talking a blue streak, Vetra talked more measuredly, trying to assess the damage. Drack didn't say a damn thing, except to pull out a medical kit and hand it over to Cora who immediately started patching me up.

With less than two hours to go on our deadline, the base doors opened and Esmus walked in, followed shortly by his sages and Researcher Daals, surrounding Taavos who was up and walking on his own. Esmus declared to everyone in the room that the duel was over, that Taavos had failed to prove his moral code, and that there was only one ritual left to perform. Daals set up a folding table and some chairs, and Taavos and I were called to sit on opposite sides and place our "heart hands" our left hands as it turned out, on the table. Esmus pulled a couple of small jars and some brushes from the pouches on his belt, handed them over to his sages, and then the sages went to work on us with everyone watching.

They stripped Taavos and I to the waist, and then started painting a matching set of intricate tattoos on our arms: an ornate chain around my wrist, with the characters of Taavos's name on the back of my hand. The chain wrapped up and around my forearm three times before shooting up to my shoulder and forming a circle around my "name" in angaran characters. Taavos got something similar. Although it was my name on his wrist and his name on his shoulder.

Turns out angaran letters are logographic rather than phonetic. Esmus had to come up with a way to write my name in _shelesh_ on the spot, and he spent a good few minutes talking with Jaal in a broken mix of shelesh and some other angaran language my translator couldn't recognize.

{Most likely a local dialect distinct to Havarl. I have already logged the words with the Initiatives lexicon and begun translating.}

Not surprising I guess. The angara did spend over a century separated from one another because of the Scourge.

Anyway, the characters on my shoulder, lets see- um… a triangle with a short shaft out of the bottom, a thing that looks like a flower, a curved horizontal line, and some kind of stick animal. Yeesh. Good thing this is only paint, or I'd be in trouble.

{You do remember that Esmus warned you about removing the tattoo, correct?}

Uh, kind of? To be honest, I didn't really understand it at the time. Just don't wash it off or let it fade unless I want to end up having to fight Taavos again.

 _{Bringing up the relevant audio log.}_

…

 **Esmus:** "I did not make you brothers for the sake of Taavos alone. You need it too."

 **Scott:** "What the fuck do I need to be related to that sorry bastard?"

 **Esmus:** "A _bosang_ without family to bind him is dangerous, both to himself and others. You say you want to help the angara, and given your… reaction, you care as deeply about your family as any angara. To lose that family is… soul-shredding, especially for Havara. I know that this is different for the people of different planets. Evfra, the leader of the Resistance; he lost not only his family to the kett, but his daar was completely annihilated as well. It was after this tragedy that he gave his life to protecting all angara from the kett. Unfortunately it is a story repeated too often in these days. Akksul, the leader of the Roekaar, the one who recruited Taavos, also endures the deprivation of his family at the hands of the kett. But without the steadying force of their families, I fear such leaders will lead the angara right into the pitiless hearts of the stars themselves. You are a leader capable of the _heart-surge_ , with only one remaining relative. Taavos has only distant relations scattered across the Cluster, and now without even the benefit of the Roekaar for company. You may not like it, but you both will benefit from the relationship. Eventually."

 **Scott:** "You're a horrible match-maker, you know that?"

 **Esmus:** "Just don't wash try to wash the paint off for at least three hours."

…

…

…

You know something SAM?

 _{What is it, Pathfinder?}_

Somewhere out there, right now, somewhere in this big multi-verse, someone is laughing their ass off at my expense. Ugh. Sham-dan sha-lah shalla-nar, my friend.

 _{That phrase does not appear anywhere in the Initiative Lexicon, Pathfinder.}_

I would be extremely surpised if it would SAM, since I just made it up. For the record, it means "such is life."

 _{C'est la vie.}_

Yeah. It can also mean "Fuck it all".

 _{I have made a note, Pathfinder.}_

Yeah, well, make a note of this: I'm going to take a shower. I haven't had a wash in over two days and I'm not going for a third. Everybody should be asleep by now so I should have it all to myself- **End recording** , SAM. _**Scott quickly shucks out of his shirt and shorts and grabs a towel.**_

 _{Pathfinder, I would advise against showering at this time.}_

Why? The paint's set, hasn't it?

 _{Indeed. This variety of paint appears to show remarkable similarities to the woad dyes of the European continent on Earth. However, that is not the reason-}_

Whatever.

 _ **Scott exits the Pathfinders cabin.**_

 _ **Addendum: for anyone who watches this in the future and is unaware, the Tempests head is located forward, port side, just outside the Pathfinder's cabin.**_

 _ **Scott activates the door of the head to open. At the moment the seal opens, a sound akin to the scream of a cougar and the shrill of a cockatiel parrot emerges, accompanied by panting breaths and broken words in a turian dialect emerge from inside.**_

 **Translation:** "Spirits yes! Yes! Right there!"

 _ **Due to privacy issues, there are no camera's inside the head. However, biometric scanners detect two turians inside: one male, one female, involved in the act of… passionate coitus.**_

 _ **Male turian identified: Caledus Varenthus, structural engineer attached to colonizing division of Ark Natanus, rescued along with Avitus Rix.**_

 _ **Female turian: Vetra Nyx, Tempest Quartermaster.**_

 _ **Scott's biometric readings escalate sharply, adrenaline sky-rocketing as surprise and shock take over.**_

 **Scott:** "Holy-fuck Gah! Sorry!"

 _ **Scott immediately swipes the door closed, makes an abrupt about-face, bolts back into the Pathfinder's cabin, and then spends the next several minutes on the floor screaming into his towel.**_

 _ **When he finally comes up for air…**_

That's it. That's the last straw. I don't care what Kallo says. Come hell or high water: I AM GETTING MY OWN DAMN BATHROOOOOOOM!

…

 **Authors Notes: Well folks, I did it. 100,000 words. I can't quite believe. As always: read, review, and enjoy!**


	43. Chapter 41

**Thoughts from Andromeda part 41**

By ElementalsAdvocate

…

 **Year 2819. Shipboard Time 09:59, Day 36 after Arrival. Andromeda Galaxy, Heleus Cluster, En route to Zheng He System from Faroang System**

…

 _ **Pathfinder Scott Ryder is sprawled across the couch in the Pathfinders Cabin; arms out, snoring softly.**_

 _{Pathfinder. Pathfinder. Scott, wake up.}_

Ummmm…..

 _{Pathfinder, you need to get up.}_

Ugh. Oh, fuck, SAM! What- what happened? What time is it?

 _{It is 10:00.}_

10:00? Jeezus SAM! I gotta- Ack!

 _ **In his haste to rise from the couch, Scott unknowingly sets his foot on a discarded bottle lying on the deck of the cabin. Putting his weight on it causes the bottle to slide and skitter out from under him, sending Scott into a full-length face-plant on the deck between the couch and the coffee table, consequently jarring the Inititive mug still filled with alcohol onto his head.**_

Fuck! What the hell was that? A bomber?

 _{No. That was your bottle of Lucky Leprechaun.}_

Fuck.

 _ **Scott painfully swivels around on the floor until he see the bottle, crawls over to it, and tips it over, revealing the bottle to be empty.**_

Fuck. That was the only bottle I had… Gah! Shit, I need to take a piss. And I'm starving. And everything fucking hurts. Fuck!

 _ **Scott unsteadily clambers to his bare feet and staggers to the door, opening it and quickly turning before hesitating at the door to the Tempest , before determinedly swiping the door control, popping it open and rushing inside, nearly running over Vetra who was crouched in front of the auto-laundry, pulling out a load of jumpsuits fit for turian forms.**_

Vetra Nix: "Hey, Ryder!"

Scott: "Vetra… hah, sorry- I gotta-" _**Scott squeezes past and rushes into the head, slamming the short door behind him and undoing his pants in a rush before standing in front of the toilet and pissing into it, making the metal bowl ring.**_

Vetra: "Don't worry about it. Sorry if I gave you a fright last night."

Scott: "Yeah… um. I wanted to apologize if I intruded at all…."

Vetra: "No, but it was funny. The look on your face!"

Scott: "Yeah yeah, hardy-har, laugh at the Pathfinder! Tickets a buck a piece!"

Vetra: "What's up with you this morning?"

Scott: "Got drunk last night on the last of my Lucky Leprechaun, that's what."

Vetra: "Ah, the infamous hangover. Swing by the galley: Drack might be able to whip something up for you."

Scott: "Yeah, sure." _**Scott finishes his business, does up his pants, walks out of the stall to the sink and stand and washes his hands, scooping up handfuls of water to drench his face in an attempt to clear his head.**_

Scott: "So… who was he, if you don't mind my asking?"

Vetra: "Carethus Aretius. I wanted to relax a little after all the excitement on Havarl, and he was willing and needed to unwind. So I asked, and he said yes."

Scott: "And… you couldn't have done that in the Armory because…?

Vetra: "Because I loaned it to another couple for the night. Valta and Tarik? I know you met them when they came onboard."

Scott: "Uh… sorry, I had a lot on my mind back then, you'll have to remind me…?"

Vetra: "Valta and Tarik Gussarian. She's a pilot and he's a space-craft mechanic."

Scott: "A match made in heaven."

Vetra: "Yeah. Anyway Valta asked me for a bit of privacy for the night. I figure: do a nice thing, makes things easier for everyone on a ship this small, and maybe one day she'll return the favor."

Scott: "That's our Vetra, always looking for the inside angle." _**Scott turns off the water and towels his face and hands dry.**_

Vetra: "You know Scott… I do stand by what I said before."

Scott: "And I stand by what I said before: Don't do anything that'll come back to bite us. Otherwise, you do what you need to do to keep us flying."

Vetra: "On that note: did you see that Liam put in a request for a new compartment module for the Nomad?"

Scott: "Vetra, I haven't had time for breakfast, much less a chance to look at my inbox right now."

Vetra: "Well, when you get the chance, come and talk to me. Pathfinder authority might help expedite a few things."

Scott: "I'll put it on my list. And… um, sorry again for interrupting you." Scott quickly leaves and crosses the corridor to the galley.

 _ **Opening the door throws the tantalizing sounds and smells of cooking meat into Scott's face. Nakmor Drack is at the small stove, frying a large piece of meat in a skillet, with a plate at his elbow stacked high with more uncooked steaks.**_

Scott: "Any coffee ready, Drack?"

 _ **Drack grunts, an animal sound, jerking one hand at the empty coffee pot beside him, but never taking his eyes off of the meat. Scott has to work around Drack; filling the reservoir with water, cleaning out and replacing the filter, putting in the coffee grounds, and then waiting for the water to heat up and dribble through into the pot while standing next to Drack's looming bulk.**_

Scott: "You're unusually talkative this morning. What's up?"

 _ **Drack says nothing, but pulls out a large knife from his belt, stabs it into the now grey-black slab of meat, lifting the steak sizzling and spitting straight out of the skillet and into his mouth, causing the whole thing to disappear in a single bite. Bones and gristle can be heard cracking and snapping between his teeth as Drack chews. Hot grease and oils drip off the horns on Drack's chin and out of the corners of his mouth, and lipid droplets flick out to strike the galley wall when he tips his head back to let the meat go noisily down his throat.**_

Drack: "Turians." _**Drack reaches over to the plate of steaks and tweaks the uppermost one into the skillet with a loud sizzle.**_

Scott: "Ah."

Drack: "Don't "Ah", me kid! You're the one that brought em' on board, so you can take responsibility for em'."

Scott: "Drack. I haven't even had my first cup of coffee yet. If you want me to do something about the turians, I'll do it but with the condition I'm in, it'll probably do more harm than good."

Drack: "I wouldn't mind doing a little harm right now." Drack stabs the steak with his knife and flips it over with another load sizzle.

Scott: "Anything in specific?"

Drack: "Let's see: The Genophage, my planet, my culture, the Genophage… my arm… several of my internal organs… the Genophage… oh, and one of those hard-plated birds woke me up this morning by falling over me and kicking me in the head. And I've been up for hours putting together one of the Doc's recipes to make the dextro stuff last longer, and half of them turned their noses up at it when they found out I made it. Stinkin' arrogant hard-plates…"

Scott: "Yeah… um… yeah, I'll- I'll get on that, first thing Drack."

SAM: _{Pathfinder, weren't you going to request assistance with your hangover?}_

Scott: _{Not now, SAM. I'll just have to make do with coffee.}_

SAM: _{Pathfinder, you should be aware that there is an altercation is in the Tech-}_

Scott: _{Is the ship going to blow up?}_

SAM: _{Unlikely Pathfinder. However-}_

Scott: _{Then it can wait until after coffee.}_

SAM: _{Pathfinder-}_

Scott: _{After. Coffee. SAM.}_

SAM: _{… As you wish, Pathfinder.}_

 _ **There is no sound in the galley except for the percolating coffee and the cooking meat on the skillet, causing Scott's mouth to begin salivating.**_

 _ **Scott's omni-tool lights up, a message from Lieutenant Harper, but Scott slaps the tool off without taking his eyes off the coffee pot. A few moments later, another message, this one from Jaal, and again, Scott turns the tool off.**_

 _ **More messages, voice and text, rush into Scott's inbox.**_

Cora: **[Ryder: Jaal's having a fight with one of the turians. Meet me outside the tech lab pronto.]**

Liam: **[Ryder- fight outside the research station, get up here!]**

Avitus Rix: **[Pathfinder: one of my people is in an altercation with your angara. We need you up here now.]**

 _ **Scott continues to ignore is bleeping omni-tool in favor of watching the coffee.**_

Drack: "You gonna get that, kid?"

Scott: "After I get my coffee Drack."

SAM: _{Pathfinder, a warning: Altercation en route.}_

Scott: "What?"

Drack: "Rrrmm?" _**Drack glares at Scott around the knife and steak stuck between his teeth.**_

Scott: "SAM, what did you mean, "Altercation en route"?"

SAM: _{I have informed the parties involved that the Pathfinder is awake and in the galley.}_

Scott: "SAM!"

Drack: "Ryder, what's-!"

 _ **The galley door opens.**_

Jaal: "Ryder! This miserable _vasagaan_ was-"

Turian Commander Karethus Varenthus: "Pathfinder! I demand you place this alien under arrest!"

Cora: "Pathfinder, we have a-"

Avitus Rix: "Pathfinder!"

Vetra: "Caledus, what's going on? Ryder?"

Caledus Varenthus: "Um-"

Liam: "Ryder!"

Drack: "Kid…"

Scott: _{SAM…. I have no words for how much trouble you're in right now.}_

SAM: _{Noted Pathfinder.}_

 **….**

 **Authors Notes: I'm back everyone! My hard drive decided to give up the ghost the other day, and I've finally got everything back in action. Strangely enough, this has prompted me to start writing again. Next few chapters will be more world and character building than action, (upgrades, weapons, analysis, character observations, training, clashing egos and command structures, etc.) then it's straight on till morning. Voeld, here we come!**

 **I want to note for any Vetra fans that I'm not going to try and portray her as loose. Vetra is seriously badass and in charge of her life, and I can see her going out and enjoying herself when the opportunity presents itself without getting in the way of the rest of her work. It's when she starts going out of her way to do something she's not really good at (i.e. cooking with an actual stove instead of a microwave) that she shows she really cares about someone. Sex may be fun, but cooking is sacred. (I'm looking at you Drack. Badass krogan juggernaught and a survival expert** _ **and**_ **a cook? Hell yes, give me more of that!)**

 **I am also a fan of** _ **Logicalpremises**_ **work here on fanfiction, and I draw a lot of inspiration from his** **Of Sheep and Battle Chicken** **, especially where the species background comes into play. Seriously, check out his** **Seasons of Sorrow Unending – Citadel Races** **piece. The definition and the detail are positively sublime.**

 **And yes, Karethus and Caledus are father and son, in case you were wondering.**

 **As always: read, review, and enjoy.**


	44. Chapter 42

**Thoughts from Andromeda part 42**

By ElementalsAdvocate

…

 **Year 2819. Shipboard Time 12:39, Day 36 after Arrival. Andromeda Galaxy, Heleus Cluster, En route to Zheng He System from Faroang System**

…

SAM. **Start recording please**.

Phew. Turians are a tough crowd. That was fucking nuts.

Okay, where do I start? At the beginning. Yeah. In the galley, with a hangover, not even had my first cup of coffee in- in… jeez, how long was it SAM?

 _{Your last intake of coffee was one August 6, 2819, approximately three days ago.}_

Son of a bitch….. Three days… that's… gotta be some kind of record for me. _**Scott takes a sip of coffee from the large mug he's holding, staring off into space.**_

Well. Anyway, half the ship busts in while I'm getting my coffee, and turns out that bad blood I was worrying about between the turians and Jaal was real. One of the turians, this hard-nosed bodger big-shot called Karethus, or to give him his full title: "First Talon Commander Karethus Varenthus of the Palaven Third Fleet, Herald of the Turian High Command, and Bearer of the Abyssal Shrike Badge of Honor." Which translates to what? SAM?

 _{A Marine Major.}_

Oh, that's great.

 _{Sarcasm?}_

Very. _Huunh._ _**Scott sighs.**_ Liam was showing some of the turians around the Tempest, Commander Varenthus was one of them. When Liam showed off the Tech Lab, Varenthus noticed Jaal's gear tucked away at the back of the lab, and he got suspicious. He came back to the lab later and was going through Jaal's things. SAM of course alerted Jaal, and Jaal came back just as Varenthus discovered some of his – I guess the word would be knick-knacks. Bits and pieces of tech, things he brought with him from Aya, things he's picked up on Havaarl and here on the Tempest. Thing is, Jaal also had a spare communication device that he was using to send reports to Aya, reports I _didn't_ know about. SAM? I assume you knew about this?

 _{Yes, Ryder. Given the fragile diplomatic situation with the angara, and the necessity of maintaining good relations with their observer, I chose to withhold this fact. However, on balance, the information translated to the device was of a more personal nature than a covert one; personal observations on the crew and yourself.}_

Well, the report Varenthus found on the device wasn't just about me and the crew! It was about the turians, goddammit! How did Varenthus even manage to translate the thing anyway?

 _{Crisis Specialist Kosta suggested I update the translation matrixes on the turian's omni-tools. That is how Varenthus was able to translate the report from shelesh into palavanus.}_

Just goes to show that no good deed goes unpunished. And I had to do some fast talking, getting almost Shakespearian, to settle everything and get to leave me alone long enough for me to get some breakfast. At least Drack cut me some slack and gave me one of his steaks. Even threw together a hang-over cure when I asked. That was nice of him. Then I had to go and give a sit-rep to the entire company so there wouldn't be any more misunderstandings. The way things are going so far today, I wouldn't bet on it.

SAM, **delete that last sentence please**? As a matter of fact **, just delete this whole thing**. Let's start over. Okay. SAM, **start recording.**

We've left Havarl, having successfully rescued the angaran scientists and reactivating the planet's vault. We've also rescued a small group of turian refugees from Ark _Natanus_. The Ark's location is still unknown, but finding them means that the _Natanus_ did make it to Andromeda.

We are currently conveying the refugees back to the Nexus for medical aid and resupply. The turians time on Havaarl was… not kind to them. Of the thirty-odd turians who got to the planet, only fifteen now survive, and two are still in critical condition. Tempers are frayed all around, and it's showing. Our angaran observer has a run-in with one of the senior officers, Commander Karethus Varenthus. I've settled things down for now, but frankly, we can't get back to the Nexus fast enough.

 _{On that note Pathfinder, we received some updates to our star charts and Scourge patterns from Rashael Vier, as thanks for recovering Daar Pelaav's data back-ups.}_

That's nice of her. Were they any help?

 _{Kallo was able to shave approxiamately12.6 hours off our travel time with the new data. The star charts also included observations of Scourge patterns over time in the Faroang System from the one-hundred and eighty years, which will be of great interest to the scientists on the Nexus.}_

So… very good?

{Yes, Pathfinder.}

Good, that's good. Well, I need to knock together some kind of report for the Directors. Stop recording please, SAM.

….

 **Pathfinder's Official Report:**

 **To the Director's:**

 **-Mission to Havaarl a success. We rescued three Angaran scientists trapped in a Remnant ruin, and activated the planetary Remnant monoliths. Hopefully this will fix up the planet. Only time will tell.**

 **We have also rescued fifteen turians from a shuttle belonging to the Ark Natanus, although we failed to recover any data from the wreckage that might have helped us to find the Natanus. Two of the refugees remain in critical condition, under the care of Doctor T'Perro, ships doctor. (Refer to Nexus Medical, information on tending older turian's with extensive injuries and levo-amino bacteria infection.)**

 **One of the turians is Lieutenant Avitus Rix, second-in-command of the turian Pathfinder team and a former Council Spectre. He is extremely interested in finding Ark Natanus and the rest of the turians, and I recommend that he be given some kind of squad or task force to focus on finding the other arks, although I'll leave that in the hands of Director Kandros. (refer message to Tiran Kandros, Director of Security).**

 **Havaarl is a temperate planet, featuring various climate zones similar to Earth. There is a lot of liquid water, as well as unique animal and plant life. Doctors Anwar and T'Perro should have already sent off reports to the science and medical departments by now on their initial findings. We've also collected a number of seeds and plants native to the planet for the Hydroponics and Agriculture specialists. Recommend that we reserve a quarantine-capable agriculture bay for planting and study. Again, refer to Doctors Suvi Anwar and Lexi T'Perro for more information.**

 **Havaarl is considered the Angaran people's homeworld, and should be treated as such. Furthermore, Havaarl is only lightly populated due to the exodus after discovery that the planet was going poisonous. Large stretches of the planet are completely wilderness interspersed with ruins, angaran and Remnant, and most of those are contested (according to local reports) by the kett (although I didn't see any myself). Therefore as Pathfinder I strongly advise against any attempt to place an outpost on Havarl until some kind of official agreement is reached with the angara.**

 **We have also collected a number of angaran tools and artifacts, including weapons that may be of interest to Director Kandros security forces and the science and engineering departments. First-hand experience says that these weapons are plasma based, and come in two varieties so far - a hand-cannon and a sniper rifle. Very powerful, but the in-built heat sink means that firing speed is limited. We may be able to modify them to use a thermal clip instead.**

 **To the Arts and Science departments, I strongly recommend a trip to the Sages of Mithrava. They hold the oral histories of the Angaran people of Havaarl, (word:** _ **havaara**_ **), and it would be extremely worthwhile for Initiative records and the diplomatic corps to have some grasp of angaran stories and history. Warning: find someone patient and extremely polite for the job. Despite Havaarl being the angaran home world, the area is still dangerous. Someone with a background in survival would also be useful. (Cora would probably recommend a former asari huntress or commando as a body-guard. Again, emphasis on being patient and polite. The Angaran Sages are a conservative people, and will not react well to being pushed around or manipulated, even subtly.)**

 **Also, Warning: Mithrava is a Remnant structure, and many Remnant constructs such as Observers, Builders, and Breakers are in the area. EXTREME CAUTION should be used whenever outside of the Sages outpost.**

 **Warning: Not all angara are friendly. We encountered a group calling themselves the Roekaar, and have strong anti-alien sentiments. Anyone claiming to be Roekaar should be considered hostile. Roekaar may bbright yellow, orange, or red. The Roekaar are apparently taking inspiration from their history, trying to make a statement of strength. The leader of the Resistance, Evfra, apparently doesn't trust the Roekaar, although that's from a second-hand source. (Kandros, be on the lookout for these people. Most of the ones we fought were pretty poor tactically speaking, but they were absolutely vicious in a fight, and the ones who were good were very good, they're good with adapting tech, and they have no reason to love aliens after the dent my team put in their ranks. Be. On. Watch.**

 **The Tempest is currently on route to the Nexus for refuel and resupply. I expect to be on station for no less than three days, but no more than seven, at which point we will head to planet designated Voeld by Jaal ama Darav. Voeld is an ice planet that once served as the Capital World for the angara, and is now the front lines for the battle between the kett and the Angaran Resistance. I don't know yet what Jaal expects us to do there, but it will likely include joint exercises with the local Resistance.**

 **Yours in good health, Pathfinder Scott Ryder.**

….

SAM, would you mind running this past some of Dad's old reports and cleaning it up a bit? The last thing I need now is some pencil-pusher getting on my case for proper format.

 _{Yes Pathfinder.}_

And ask Vetra if she's gotten word from Kesh about how long the refits to the Nomad are going to take? And ask Mr. Brody if there's anything he needs, and… fuck! Just call the crew up to the Verandah and let's have a proper pow-wow about what we need.

 _{Yes Pathfinder. Will "Meet on the Verandah in one hour" be enough?}_

Yeah, that'll do, unless something major comes up. And SAM-

 _{Yes Pathfinder?}_

Thanks for everything. Really.

 _{Of course Scott._ _ **Logging you out.**_ _}_

 _..._


	45. Chapter 43

**Thoughts from Andromeda part 43**

By ElementalsAdvocate

…

 **Year 2819. Shipboard Time 14:56, Day 36 after Arrival. Andromeda Galaxy, Heleus Cluster, En route to Nexus in the Zheng He System from Planet Havarl, Faroang System. Tempest Bridge Escape Pod Compartment.**

…

 _ **Scott opens the compartment hatch to find Peebee twitching back and forth in the mittle of the compartment with her back to the door, muttering distractedly.**_

Peebee: "… come on, think… _think_. I need… something!"

Ryder: "You know; when SAM has to be the one to let me know that you're in a tizzy, I know somethings off."

Peebee: "Shit! Ryder, you shouldn't sneak up on a person like that."

Ryder: "I didn't see you at the meeting. Who were you talking to?"

Peebee: "I'm just… talking to myself. Don't tell me you never do that."

Ryder: "I used to. Now I mostly talk to SAM. You seem stressed. What's up?"

Peebee: "No kidding." _**Peebee starts pacing back and forth across the room, light quick steps snapping and rapping across the deck panels.**_ "I'm not built for this kind of… homesteading. Don't like people knowing where I am, or where my stuff is… arghh!" _**Peebee's cry of frustration echoes around the small chamber.**_

Scott: "Okay, I can't believe I'm going to say this but; you've got to relax. Seriously, you're starting to make _me_ stress out."

Peebee: "I'd like to. I need to, yes." _**Peebee sighs and takes several deep breaths to calm down.**_ "Whenever I felt like this back home, I'd look for a zero-G chamber or at least an isolation tank, someplace where I could just drift away. I could really use that now."

SAM: **["If I may, gravity can be overridden in the escape pod. You can create a zero-G chamber."]**

Peebee: "Of course! SAM, you're a genius!"

 _ **Peebee scrambles to the port side of the chamber where the pod stands open to the rest of the ship and lithely hops inside. Ryder follows to look at what Peebee is doing inside.**_

 _ **Peebee is already accessing the pods controls, setting up a program that would turn off the pods gravity temporarily.**_ Peebee: "It's easy. It'll make a huge difference Ryder. You'll see." _**Peebee turns and looks at Ryder. Her gaze is… assessing.**_ Peebee: "You know… there's room for two."

 _ **Scott hesitates.**_ _**Then**_ : "Sure, why not?"

 _ **Scott hops into the pod and seals the hatch behind him.**_

 _ **Peebee grins and turns back to the controls.**_ "And… this… should… do it!" _**The artificial gravity generator turns off, and the principles of void assert themselves.**_

 _ **Peebee sighs contentedly as she rises from the deck, relaxing into a loose and gentle fetal position.**_ Peebee: "Close your eyes… relax… let yourself go." _**A deep and luxurious chuckle**_ "Oh, this hits the spot…"

 _ **Scott is silent, closing his eyes and floating, enjoying the feeling of weightlessness. Peebee and Scott gently float and twist around the small space, accompanied only by the near silent hum from the greater Tempest.**_

Peebee: "Ryder…"

Scott: "Yeah?"

Peebee: "There's something else that would relax me."

Scott: "What's that?"

Peebee: "That's the spirit. Want to _fool around?_ "

 _ **Scott opens his eyes and suddenly realizes that he's floating directly above Peebee, staring down into bright, interested green eyes.**_

Peebee: "It doesn't matter if you have something else going. I can be utterly discrete. Just fun. Two people blowing off steam. No strings attached. _Only-"_ **Peebee cautions** _"_ -if there's no strings."

Scott: "Uh, Peebee? Floating's… good, thanks. Um- SAM!"

SAM: **["Reactivating gravity generator."]**

 _ **Gravity reasserts itself, dropping Scott and Peebee to the deck of the escape pod in an unceremonious clamor. Scott grabs at a safety harness, dragging himself up and off of the startled asari. The hatch opens and Scott scrambles out of the pod, into the airlock, then out to the bridge, before making an abrupt turn and striding away on stiff legs towards the Tempest aft.**_

Peebee: "SAM! What just happened? What's up with Ryder?"

SAM: **["A panic attack, it seems. Please, I must focus."]**

… … …

 **Authors Notes:**

 **Deathzealot – "Man. You really need to make these a bit longer, for every chapter is freaking awesome and now I have to wait weeks to months for the next chapter. Sigh. Oh well. Great chapter keep it coming!"**

 **Thank you for your support. Life has a way of sweeping me off my writers plod in order to deal with the down-ward rush of reality. My computer broke down, an emergency in the family, work, and returning to school to start a new career-path. I'm also juggling with a number of plot-points and inputs of my own to the Mass Effect: Andromeda story, and without any Mass Effect fans to bounce ideas off of, it gets a little over-crowded in my head, and sometimes I just need to walk away, you know?**

 **Some of the things I've been wrestling with:**

 **\- What are the names of the various small ships in Mass Effect Andromeda? I know the Kodiak and the Arks, but what are the heavy shuttles for colonization called, and the fighter with the long-wings we see in the Hyperion shuttle-bay?  
What about the Angara's shuttles?  
What about the kett dreadnoughts and fighters and shuttles?  
What about that sweet little heli-craft we see on Kadara, and the mono-pod we see end up in the Tempest cargo-bay? So many little pieces that look cool but have next-to-no backstory; it's infuriating!**

 **\- What is the name of the ground vehicles we see on Eos? Not the grav haulers in Site 1, but the wheeled vehicles in and around Site 2 with the array on top of the canopy? Anyone know?**

 **\- The weapons. I've been trying to sort out the system for what weapons turn up in Andromeda and why. The weapons are crucial to any Mass Effect story. Please look on my authors profile for the entire diatribe.**

 **-The crew of the Tempest. What are their motivations? Their deeper aspirations and desires? What makes them happy and what makes them finally snap? (Looking at you Liam. You make no sense.) Where do these motivations come from?**

 **-Scott's backstory. Shepard allowed us enormous freedom to create our own backstories, and these choices had a strong, significant impact on what happened in throughout the play-through. Aside from a single instance of "training" which represents your experience before joining the Initiative, there's practically nothing there except some off-hand comments made to other crew-members. My Shepard was Earth-born, War-Hero, and the scenes where I had to deal with the repercussions of Shepard's past had an enormous effect on me as a player and a writer. I believe that Scott and Sara deserve nothing less.**

 **I've got a lot of work in the pipe right now. Once I'm done editing, I should be back to my old schedule of a new post every week.**

 **As always: read, review, and enjoy!**


	46. Chapter 44

**Thoughts from Andromeda part 44**

By ElementalsAdvocate

…

 **Year 2819. Shipboard Time 15:10, Day 36 after Arrival. Andromeda Galaxy, Heleus Cluster, En route to Nexus in the Zheng He System from Planet Havarl, Faroang System. Outside Tempest Bridge, following Scott to Pathfinder's Cabin.**

…

{SAM!}

 _{Scott, I am attempting to bring your adrenaline levels down.}_

{Just keep me from freaking out in front of the crew! I can't handle this right now! Help me get to the cabin.}

 _{Keep going straight, Scott. In your current state, attempting the ladder would result in injury}_

{SAM, that'll take me right through the whole damn crew!}

 _{Scott – trust me.}_

{SAM- what-! Hunh…. Woah, that-}

 _ **Scott halts, briefly, his face going slack before snapping back into an expression of intent. Eyes forward, slightly stiff-legged, Scott walks slowly down the corridor. Limbs jerk a little as Scott leaves the corridor, turning to slip along the wall. Liam is talking animatedly with some turians around the Research Station in the middle of the room.**_

"Hey Scott! Got a minute?"

 _ **Scott stops, a little jerkily, turns and looks intently at Liam.**_

"Minute?"

"Yeah: Look, could you sign off on this research request? I'm putting together a little project; something to help with the angara. Only some of the materials are on the limited list and I can't start without a pathfinder signing off on it."

"Yes! SAM?"

 _ **Scott raises his arm, activating his omni-tool and sending the station his approval of the request.**_

"Sweet! Thanks Ryder. You going to come round for a beer later?"

"Yes! Beer!"

 _ **Scott turns and marches past the research station to the door to the Cargo Bay, which opens as soon as he gets within a few feet, allowing the sound of turians performing drills to enter Deck 1.**_

 _ **Commander Varenthus is drilling several of the other turians in hand-to-hand combat drills on the lower deck, Avitus Rix among them. Other turians are watching from the gantry. Vetra is among them. Vetra notices Scott coming along the gantry and waves to him.**_

"Ryder, got a sec?"

"Sorry. Vetra. No. Not. Now."

"Scott, are you feeling okay?"

"Fine!" _**Scott sidles stiffly past Vetra to the lift between the gantry and the main deck of the cargo bay, slapping his hand onto the controls to make the lift go down.**_

 _ **Scott steps off the lift as soon as it stops, only to almost stumble aside as Avitus suddenly seems to loom into his peripheral vision.**_

"Pathfinder; come to join us?"

"No. Thanks." _**Scott slips aside and hastily evades through the crowded room and up the starboard ramp into the crew's living area. The door opens, Scott's moving, and runs directly into Cora coming the other way.**_

 _ **Cora yelps, Scott gasps, and they both fall to the deck plating.**_

"Scott! What the hell-"

"Sorry! Sorry!" _**Scott scrambles back to his feet and darts, limbs jerking, for the safety of the Pathfinder's cabin.**_

 _ **The cabin doors are already open. Scott practically falls into the sanctuary of the cabin, doors sealing behind him.**_

 _{Relinquishing control.}_

 _ **Scott gasps, stiffening as limbs suddenly return to his complete control, but Scott quickly loses his balance and collapses to the deck.**_

 _{I apologize, Scott. There was no other way. I- I am so sorry.}_

….

….

….

 _ **Scott lays on the deck for fifteen minutes, trembling and shaking, tears leaking from his eyes. In succession, Cora, Vetra, and Doctor T'Perro attempt to gain access to the room, but are turned aside by Scott's silence.**_

 _ **Finally, Scott pulls himself to his feet and moves to the bed, pulling a wad of tissues from the box on the bed stand and moping his eyes and nose.**_

"SAM?"

 _{Yes, Scott?}_

"When exactly did you gain the ability to "assume direct control" over me?"

 _{When you became Pathfinder; it is one of my functions, although "assuming direct control" is an aspect of my programming that Alec taught me to abhor.}_

"Fuck."

 _ **Scott sits down on the edge of the bed, cradling his head in his hands.**_

"Fuck me. Slip-stingle baccarat in a blender - how did I get myself into this mess?"

 _{…..}_

"By the mighty stars, what has become of me?" _**Scott suddenly throws himself to his feet and starts to pace back and forth across the cabin.**_ "This cannot be happening. This… cannot, be happening, now! I was over this. I thought I was glad-blasting over this! It's been over six-hundred and thirty-four mind-damping years, and one look from an asari is all it takes to send me running for the fucking hills? What the BELGIUM is up with that!?"

 _{I… would like to understand that myself.}_

"Ugh…."

 _ **Scott sits back down on the bed.**_

"SAM… start recording, please."

 _{Recording, Pathfinder.}_

"SAM, I- I don't know where to begin."

{Begin at the beginning, and work your way from there.}

 _ **Scott is silent and still, looking up at the cabin roof. Then, one hand reaches out to the bedside table and picks up the picture frame showing Ellen Ryder's birthday party. Scott taps the screen, activating the frames selector, and pans through the pictures until he finds the one he wants and brings it to the full screen. The picture shows a group of a dozen men and women in the white-and-blue light armor of the Systems Alliance Peace-keeper Corps, gathered around a massive block of granite laced with the bright blue of eezo. Scott is standing among them, one hand on the dark rock, a purple blaze on his left arm and with glinting silver lieutenant's bars on each shoulder, showing his rank and his position on the squad as a biotic.**_

"I spent the better part of the Eden-Prime War trying to get transferred to a combat unit. But 202 was considered a station of critical importance to the Alliance war efforts since Relay 202, and "critical assets" like 202 needed to have a designated biotic. I was that designated biotic. I was stuck through the whole fucking war. It wasn't until after the battle of the Citadel and most of the Geth had been driven out the Traverse that Captain Spetz let me leave on a transfer to the Alliance Peacekeeping Corps."

"It wasn't what I'd wanted going in, but looking back; getting into the Peacekeepers was the best thing to happen to my career in the Alliance up to that point. After two-and-a-half years stuck on 202, I was finally getting somewhere; going to new places, doing things that made a difference in people's lives. It wasn't glamourous, but it sure as hell beat being stuck behind a desk on a station. I even earned a field promotion to Second Lieutenant. We were too busy for me to go to officer's academy at the time, although my CO promised to send a recommendation ASAP."

"About five months into my tour, my squad was sent to Geldburg. Geldburg was a mining colony on the edge of the Traverse and Citadel space: lots of people, lots of travel, lots of money, and lots of trouble. Before the war, the colony had just been scratching out an existence. Then they discovered eezo deposits deeper down, and their operations exploded practically overnight."

"When the Eden-Prime War started, Geldburg demanded protection from the Alliance, and they'd gotten it. But once the war was over and the combat forces left, a lot of bad elements came out of the wood-works. Different peoples competing for resources and profits, and finally things blew up, almost literally. Geldburg was making pretty good money for a lot of important people in the Alliance and Citadel Space, so the Alliance got the go-ahead to send in peace-keeping forces."

"It was… pretty bad. Protests, fights, riots, espionage, sabotage, and too much money and interest turning up in one place way too fast. Like high school, but with power tools and hab-blocks."

"I remember this one time; my squad was called in on a general distress call. One of the mines had been blown up, and the emergency crews needed all the help they could get. Over two-hundred miners trapped under half-a-mile of rock. We just started shifting rubble pulling bodies out of the muck when we found them, saving lives where we could, shoring up and holding things in place for other miners. I don't really remember how long I was working. I just remember pulling that last block of stone out at the end of the tunnel, turning stone to void, and seeing a face looking back at me, and seeing dozens of other living faces beyond. I just sat down right there in the tunnel, and the next thing I remember, I woke up in hospital three days later."

"We spent over a month on Geldburg. That wasn't the last disaster I jumped into. It took some serious talking, and some serious police-work, to settle things to the point that the Peace-keeping forces could leave."

"After Geldburg, my squad got a week's leave. I wanted to go to Elysium, but I didn't have the money for it and the squad wanted to go to the Citadel, so I went to the Citadel. I hadn't been there in over a decade, so it wasn't a total loss. There was still some damage left over from the Geth attack, but it did not stop us from seeing all the sights; the Presidium, the Wards, the rebuilt Dilinaga Music Hall. We even

"On our last night of leave, we went to this new club on the Presidium, a place called Purgatory. Loudest, brightest, darkest, swankiest, dingiest, shiniest bar and dance club on the Citadel. Lights, noise, a thumping beat thundering through the whole flip-flashing place."

"I've had to put things back together in my head because immediately afterI was never much of a dancer, so I stayed at the bar nursing my drink. I thought I was keeping a clear head, staying alert and watching out for my team. But suddenly this asari just seems to appear out of the crowd. She was wearing this clinging emerald dress with a slit on the side that went all the way up to her hip, showing off blue legs that went on forever, and a hauntingly brief décolletage over curves like rolling hills at sunset. She came right up to me, looked at me with these… dark, shifting eyes – and I was lost."

"She came up and sat down right next to me, asked me to order her a drink - which I did. She said her name was Kanis, visiting the Citadel on a trip. We talked, we flirted, and she invited me back to her hotel room."

"I still don't remember much of what happened after that. I know we took a cab to get to this kind of utilitarian hole in the wall kind of building in what I found out later was Zakara Ward. Frankly… I wasn't paying much attention to where we were going. We were… like… all over each other."

"We got to the room, and started having sex, and then… and then…. Right in the middle of it, I looked into Kanis's eyes… only they weren't just dark any more. They were black. Like the depths of a blue hole black, a black that shredded colors to the edge of your vision and sucked you down in mirror-darkness. And then…"

"Pain."

"Pain like nothing I had ever gone through before. The pain I felt during Marine training felt shorter and lesser, the pain of the surgeries when I was a kid getting my implants was more understandable, Dad's N7 Lite training that summer after he found out that Sara and I were dealing with bullies at school was more compassionate.

"The pain was being eaten, and Kanis was consuming my pain- consuming me! I don't know, I don't know how! But… that's what it felt like."

"I don't know what happened then. Maybe I fought back, maybe someone saved my sorry ass, but- the next thing I remember was waking up on the floor of the hotel-room, stark-fucking-naked, feeling like someone had worked me over with a lightning bolt. When I finally worked up the strength to pull my face off of the floor, the room was completely destroyed, the walls bowed out, the bed in ruins. Kanis was gone. Just… gone."

"A couple of C-Sec cops showed up and hauled me away, still buck-naked. Bastards processed me, gave me some clothes, and tossed me into an interrogation room and grilled me about who I was and what I was doing and what the hell happened in that room. Then they left me alone for a bit, and then came and interrogated me again. This went on for what felt like hours, until finally this grumpy old guy came in and told them to get out. The new guy introduced himself as Captain Bailey and we talked. He called in a doctor to look at me, because by then I was all over bruises."

"By the time the doctor was finished tending to me, my JAG lawyer finally showed up, some hot-rod bureaucratic type. Bailey left to give us some privacy, and I started explaining what happened, and… and… and the next thing I remember was waking up hand-cuffed between a couple of MP's on a shuttle back to Arcturus Station."

 _{Why?}_

"I don't know. The psychotherapist I went to afterwards said that loss of memory was something that could happen after a traumatic experience."

 _{…Please continue.}_

"After a couple of days in the stockade cooling my heels, I got dragged in front of a full-fucking-courts-martial board. The Judge was a Vice-Admiral, the prosecuting attorney a Captain; I was accused of… god, a bunch of things; assault and battery, under-the-influence, property-damage, going AWOL… God."

 _{Were you presented with a warrant before your trial?}_

"I don't know. I don't remember. The record says that the MP's presented it when they picked me up at the Citadel. My memory was some weird combination of fog-bank and mud-pie at the time."

 _{As I understand it, it would be illegal to try someone not in his or her right mind. Did your attorney make an objection?}_

"For the trial I had a new JAG lawyer, Lieutenant Anne Ayers. It was her first case. And there I was, a biotic marine turned peace-keeper, accused of a whole fucking list of transgressions, on the Citadel, after humanity had just gotten to the top-fucking-table of the Council, and I had a faulty memory to boot!"

 _{Why did you have a new lawyer?}_

"It's my story SAM so shut up!"

 _{…. … … …}_

"God." _**Scott presses both palms against his eyes.**_ "SAM, I'm- I just-"

 _{I understand that this is difficult for you, Scott. I apologize for interrupting. Please continue.}_

"Right. Gah!"

 _ **Scott gasps and hacks before settling back down into the bed.**_ "Thinking about that time puts a bad taste in my mouth. I knew pretty quick that I was getting railroaded. They had the cops statements from immediately after the incident, a statement from the hotel owner who sent a volus lawyer to demand restitution for the damages I apparently made, in spite of the fact that I hadn't been alone and the fact that no one apparently knew where Kanis was, or even cared. It was an open and shut case, at least to the bastards who were trying to toss my ass in a cell."

"I'm still walking around free today because of Ayers. She may have been new to the job, but she did everything to the letter, raised every objection she could throw up that would stick. The day before I was due to be sentenced, I finally remembered that it had been an officer Bailey that interrogated me, and Ayers promised she'd look into it."

"Just before the judge could move to saying whether I was guilty or not, in walked Captain Armando Bailey from the Citadel. Ayers had made contact with Bailey the night before, and Bailey dropped took a day off just so he could come in and save my ass. He came with a completed investigative report, and video evidence that proved I hadn't been under the influence of anything except a few beers, and the other crap in my system apparently came from being in coitus with an asari. He also had security footage of Kanis getting on a ship bound for the Terminus Systems an hour after our… incident, looking none the worse for wear except for some breath-taking bruises under heavy make-up."

"Then he dropped the doozy. Turns out, Kanis's real name was Artris S'Vreel, and S'Vreel was wanted in connection with other murders around the edges of Citadel Space. Why she'd come to the Citadel, no one knows."

"Bailey's evidence and testimony was enough to most of the charges against me dropped. I lost my Lieutenant's commission, I was fined for the property damage, and since it was Citadel property, I walked out of that courtroom with barely a credit to my name and wearing Gunnery Sergeants stripes. And to top it all off, as soon as the trial was over, I got new orders transferring me out of the Peace-keepers and back to fucking Relay Station 202."

 _ **Scott lies on the bed silently for several minutes, staring up at the ceiling.**_

"I called Sara as soon as I could, and she told me why the higher-ups had seemed so set on putting me away. Turns out someone in the media found out that Dad was still working on Artificial Intelligence in spite of the shit the Alliance brass put him through. Only now, Dad was working for the Jien Garson and the Initiative, and Garson had enough money and influence to protect Dad. So, the brass decided to take their displeasure out on his kids. The shit with Kanis- or Artris, whatever, was just an excuse to railroad me and stick it to Dad. Sara... Sara's clearances were "under review" and apparently, the word was going around the archives that anyone with sense should distance themselves from anyone with the name of Ryder."

"When I got back to 202, I tried calling my friends in the Peace-keepers. No one, not my old CO or my former "comrades" ever returned by calls. And that really fucking hurt."

"I spent the last few months of my tour stuck on every dirty duty that 202's CO could think of. And when my tour was up, I took my discharge and left. There was no way in Hell I was going to waste my time serving the Alliance under a "Williams Curse".

 _{What is a "William's Curse"?}_

Slang for "the brass's stink". Named after General Williams of Shanxi, the only human officer who ever surrendered to an alien invader. After the First Contact War, General Williams son went into the service; spent thirty-something years as a Serviceman Third Class, all because his father decided that his men's lives were more important than pride. General Williams's granddaughter, Ashley Williams? She never would have made Second Lieutenant if Commander Shepard hadn't taken her onboard the Normandy and they took down Saren Arterius together. And everyone knows the hell-ass-crazy shit they had to do before then. I just… don't have that kind of luck. Or that kind of patience. Or determination.

….

….

….

"I was fucked, plain and simple SAM. Plain and fucking simple."

 _ **Scott rolls off the bed and walks across the cabin, picking up his guitar and walked back and lying down on the bed, the guitar cradled on his stomach.**_

 _ **Slowly, Scott plunks out a melody, face setting in hard, hurt lines as he softly sings along to the music of the guitar.**_

Smiling faces sometimes  
Pretend to be your friend  
Smiling faces show no traces  
Of the evil that lurks within  
Smiling faces, smiling faces, sometimes  
They don't tell the truth  
Smiling faces, smiling faces tell lies and I got proof  
Oh, oh, yeah

Let me tell you  
The truth is in the eyes 'cause the eyes don't lie, amen  
Remember, a smile is just a frown turned upside down my friend  
So, hear me when I'm saying  
Smiling faces, smiling faces, sometimes, yeah  
They don't tell the truth  
Smiling faces, smiling faces tell lies and I got proof  
beware of the handshake  
That hides the snake (can you dig it, can you dig it?)

I'm a-tellin' you beware of the pat on the back  
It just might hold you back  
Jealousy, misery envy  
I tell you you can't see behind  
Smiling faces, smiling faces, sometimes  
Hey, they don't tell the truth  
Smiling faces, smiling faces tell lies and I got proof  
Hey, your enemy won't do you no harm  
'cause you'll know where he's comin' from  
Don't let the handshake and the smile fool ya  
Take my advice, I'm only tryin' to school ya  
Smiling faces, smiling faces, sometimes  
They don't tell the truth  
Smiling faces, smiling faces tell lies and I got proof  
Smiling faces, smiling faces sometimes

 _ **Scott's voice trails off on the last note, and he sits in darkness.**_

"So what do I do now? I can't stay in this cabin for the rest of my life. I've got a job to do, and people counting on me. But - I can't let this go either."

"Sometimes at night… I'll wake up in cold sweat from a dream about dark eyes. And Peebee! God, what do I say to her? What _can_ I say to her?"

 _{Perhaps if we examine the options available, a solution will appear.}_

"Options?"

 _{You are clearly suffering from post-traumatic-stress, and as you have said, you cannot afford to be crippled at this time. Therefore, a cure must be affected. The common cure is to discuss what you have experienced with a professional, or someone close to you whom you can trust.}_

"I don't think the professionals quite had you in mind SAM."

 _{True. My involvement is a given in this case. But I do not have the experience to counsel you in this manner. That said: is there anyone on the Pathfinder Team that you would feel comfortable talking to?}_

"I… don't know."

 _ **Scott ponders that statement.**_

"I don't know. I just don't know. I've been so busy… I just do the work. We talk, we interact, we work with each other… but I don't know them. And they don't know me. I don't want them to know, to know this hurt, this weakness, not now. But if I don't talk to them, when I know I'm hurting, when I know I'm flawed… how will I be strong enough to stand when they need me?"

 _{… Who would you talk to if you were not the Pathfinder?}_

"Sara. We talk about this kind of shit together. She always had my back. But never over the phone, or in letters, or anything that people might find out."

 _{"Never let them see they get to you".}_

"Yeah. And - whenever I tried to talk to her about this before… I couldn't. Something would get in the way or something would make me stop. And are you picking my brain again?"

 _{Yes. Ellen loved that movie. So did you and Sara.}_

"I liked the smart guy being able to be smart and compassionate at the same time."

 _{The list?}_

"Okay. Hit me."

 _{Doctor Anwar?}_

"No. Way."

 _{Jaal ama Darav?}_

"Why is he on the list?"

 _{He is on the team, is he not?}_

"Well, yes. Okay: Jaal. He's not Asari, he doesn't have the Milky Way baggage, and he might understand about emotional baggage… I don't know. Maybe."

 _{Gil Brodie?}_

"No. Gil has enough to worry about without wondering if the guy in charge is losing his marbles."

 _{Peebee?}_

"Are you trying to get a sock stuffed into your memory core?"

 _{You will need to talk to her eventually.}_

"You're right. Damn your eyes."

 _{Young Frankenstein.}_

"An oldie but goodie."

 _{Cora Harper?}_

"I- don't know. Cora spent a lot of time working with asari. She might know something to explain what happened. But then again, maybe she'd use it against me."

 _{Why?}_

"Because- Because- I don't know. She hates what Dad did - Passing over her to put the Pathfinder's job on my shoulders."

 _{She does not understand.}_

"None of us do."

 _{In that case, there may be some common ground between you two to begin building an effective relationship.}_

"I'll… think about it. Who's next?"

 _{Kallo Jath.}_

"Again, guy in an important position who doesn't need more crap on his plate."

 _{Liam Kosta?}_

"Maybe. Liam's about the same age as me, and he's gone through crap with the system. He knows what it's like to try and find what you're looking for, even in spite of the system. Maybe."

 _{Nakmore Drack.}_

"Drack's… hunh, actually not a bad idea. He's fourteen-hundred years old, and all that time was spent bouncing around the Milky Way's underbelly. He might know things about the asari that no one else will talk about."

 _{Vetra Nyx?}_

"Again, I don't know. I like her; Vetra's reliable as all hell, but…. She's another one I don't want seeing me at my weakest. And I don't think I could survive the ribbing she would give me if she thought it was funny."

 _{That seems… illogical.}_

"It is. Anyone else?"

 _{Doctor T'Perro.}_

"No-! Gah… I - Damn it! Damn it."

 _{You know your own rules.}_

"SAM…. She's an asari."

 _{And a doctor. Your doctor. Who has already had counseling sessions with your before.}_

"I do not need another asari messing around with my head!"

 _{….}_

"No, SAM. Just… no."

 _{As you wish. What do you want to do now?}_

"I want to get drunk. Really drunk. But I'm all out of Lucky Leprechaun. Maybe Liam's got something. He did mention beer…"

 _{Logging you out, Pathfinder.}_

"SAM, hold it. There's something I gotta do first. Is Peebee still in the escape pod?"

 _{Yes.}_

"Okay." _**Scott breathes deeply through his nose and goes across the cabin to sit at his computer terminal.**_ _**One more deep breath and**_ : "SAM, call Peebee."

 _{One moment Pathfinder.}_

 **["Ryder!"]**

 _ **The terminal screen switches immediately to a view of the Escape Pod Ante chamber as seen from the terminal near the door. Peebee's face appears enormous as she is right up in the camera, trying to study Scott in detail through the lens.**_

 **["Ryder, what happened? What's going on? I mean, I've never had human partners before, but everything I've heard-"]**

"Peebee, calm down. I have something to say and I would appreciate it if you would let me get it out before- well, just let me talk."

"Peebee, what happened before was my fault, not yours. I – appreciate, the offer but… asari just aren't my type. I'm sorry if I upset you. The problem was- is me. Not you."

 **["Oh…"]** _ **Peebee pulls back slightly, eyeing Scott (uncertainly)through the screen.**_

"What "oh"?"

 **["It's just… I'm not used to people telling me that I'm not the problem. Anyway – I've got to get back to work. And Ryder?"]**

"Yes?"

 **["You're really not angry at me?"]**

"No Peebee, I'm not angry at you. I promise."

 **["Okay then. Ummm, talk to you later, I guess."]** _**Peebee terminates the feed from her side.**_

"Well, that went better than I expected."

 _{Shall I ask Liam when he would like to share that drink?}_

"Yes. And SAM, thanks. I- just- Thanks."

 _{Logging you out, Pathfinder.}_

 **…..**

 **Author's Notes: Oh God everybody I finally got it! This chapter was utterly nerve-wracking for me, mainly because this is one of my first completely original additions to Scott's story. I wrote and re-wrote this a dozen times, and when I finally found something that clicked, it took off and dragged me behind it like, like, like a dog walker behind a pack of thundering huskies after a squirrel.**

 **I just felt that Scott needed something more; something to seriously kick him in gut, something to push Scott beyond the normal. Scott needed a certain degree of trial by fire. He needed something that would kick him out of his set career path and onto the road that would send him to Andromeda. I found an Ardat-Yakshi on the Citadel. Crazy, no?**

 _ **-Deathzealot: Hmmm... Go look up Nach77 and Euderion on DeviantArt to answer those thoughts of yours on the Vehicles of Andromeda and Mass Effect. Some interesting stuff there along with some names for stuff you may like.**_

 _ **Also to get some ideas for Ryder's history I have few ideas myself I can share. There are also a couple ME1/ME2 stories out there that use the characters and such from Andromeda including Ryder. One where Sara Ryder is a Navy Corpsman assigned to Shepard's team during the events of ME1. Lots of interesting ideas out there.**_

 **I actually go on Deviantart a lot to try to find inspiration for my writing. Nach77's models are excellent, and his concept art expansions upon the Mass Effect ship rosters are fun to look at. Euderion's work is more artistic, thematically speaking, which makes it easier to imagine the ships at work in the "world", and he has included some additions to Andromeda's roster, adding in detail such as a civilian variant of the Kodiak shuttle, the Shuyak. Unfortunately, while they have both done Andromeda models, they have not done all that much to add names and stats to Andromeda's stuff. If I get permission, I would like to put in some of their work. In the meantime, I will establish what is still free for interpretation.**

 **Wow, that would be some serious backstory. A Ryder, riding back seat on the Normandy SR-1 with Shepard and the rest of The Gang? That would be pretty cool to read, if done right.  
**

 _ **-starbornshine: - Hi! Sorry for staying silent for a while, but I've been lurking here since chapter 30 something and I've been eagerly following your interpretation of ME: A. I've got to say this is one of the most enjoyable ME stories I've found up here and I'm shocked that you don't have more reviews, followers and favourites. I'm a tough critic to please so I thought for sure this work would have hundreds of reviews. You definitely deserve that. Well, here's hoping that changes.**_

 _ **I've got to say I really like the style of the writing and the slight changes you've made to make the universe more immersive. I also really enjoy your involvement of SAM in the story, there aren't enough people who do, most people tend to forget that he exists entirely so I was very excited when I found a fic that listed SAM as one of the main characters and you did not disappoint. Your view on Scott is also very curious and I'm interested in how he changes and grows as we go along. These logs were a great idea! It's an unusual style, but I really like it.**_

 _ **As for your questions, I sincerely wish I could help, but seeing as I'm utterly clueless about a lot of the ME lore (side-effect of never having played the games myself) I think I would do more harm than good. And I can sympathise with your head getting overcrowded, sometimes you really do need a sounding board. Thank the stars, for my younger sister who is my beta and sounding board. There should be some betas up on the site? Have you looked into getting one possibly?**_

 _ **Anyway, I just wanted to pop in to say that I've been thoroughly enjoying every chapter and while I do wish they were longer I do understand how tough that can be and you seem to think everything through to the last detail which is time and energy consuming. Anyway, thank you and keep up the great work! I'll be following! :)**_

 **I am thrilled to hear that my work has garnered such praise. I know that my style isn't for everyone, but I'm glad that you like it. SAM's presence was always going to be implicit, but I never expected him to assume his current role. It's… exhilarating. He's omniscient, but not. He's still discovering things. It's fascinating.  
As for my questions, they are more for starting discussion and thought then for getting answers, although answers are always appreciated. **

**I started toying with the idea that maybe SAM was manipulating Scott's reactions more than what met the eye a few months ago. It might explain Scott's constant in-game air of general equanimity. I just wish that I had some kind of confirmation one way or another. If someone wanted to, they could try and write a story where Scott dies, but a personality run by SAM lives on in Scott's body. Sounds crazy, but it might be interesting to see how a personality of SAM would develop in a human body, coming to terms with chemical impulses and emotions, romance even. Would the existence be a joke, kept silent and secret to laugh at all the unknowing organics around it? Or would it be a journey of discovery for a new next-generation life?**

 **Readers: please please PLEASE let me know your thoughts on my work! Reviews are what give me the motivation to write!**

" **Smiling Faces Sometimes" is by The Undisputed Truth. The quotes are from Zootopia and Young Frankenstein, respectively.**

 **As always: Read, review, and enjoy!**


	47. Chapter 45

**Thoughts from Andromeda part 45**

By ElementalsAdvocate

…

 **Year 2819. Shipboard Time 23:03, Day 36 after Arrival. Andromeda Galaxy, Heleus Cluster, En route to Nexus in the Zheng He System from Planet Havarl, Faroang System. Tempest Medical Bay.**

 **Present:**

 **-Doctor Lexi T'Perro: Asari, (302), Ships Physician.**

 **-Nimis Pertinasus: Turian, (95) Former Vice Admiral of the Turian Hierarchy, patient to Dr. T'Perro, suffering from multiple systemic infections due to exposure in an unsanitary levo-acid environment, complicated by old age. Antibiotics and immune-boosters administered upon arrival at the Nexus, along with intravenous vitamins and nutrients. Condition: Stable, but deteriorating. Prognosis: Poor. Patient is unlikely to survive to see the Nexus.**

Nimis: "Doctor? Doctor?"

T'Perro: "Yes Admiral, is there something I can do for you?"

Nimis: "Yes. You can go get something to eat and some rest. Then maybe I can have some peace from your humming."

T'Perro: "I'm sorry Admiral, I didn't realize-"

Nimis: "Nothing to apologize for! It's actually quite soothing. I've never known an asari who could hum the entirety of the "the Seventh's Last Stand".

T'Perro: "It was one of my father's favorites. He used to hum it to himself before he would go to work. I've never quite kicked the habit."

Nimis: "Your father was a turian then? Exceptional. Your diligence speaks for itself. But still, your humming keeps catching me when I'm trying to fall asleep. And even these rheumy old eyes can tell you're almost dead on your feet. Go. Turn the lights off and let me nod off in peace. And don't worry! I've no intention of dying anytime soon!"

T'Perro: "… As you wish Admiral. SAM, I want to know the second there's any change."

SAM: _(Yes Doctor.}_

 _ **Reluctantly, Doctor T'Perro turns out the lights and exit's the med-bay. For several minutes there is only the muted hum of the Tempest engines and the light raspy breathing of the patient. Then,**_

Nimis: "Lights."

 **The lights come up immediately around the bed.**

Nimis: "Ship's VI, you hear me?"

SAM: _{"Yes Admiral. Are you in need of assistance? Shall I call Doctor T'Perro?"}_

Nimis: "No. I require the presence of Commander Varenthus and Lieutenant Rix. And… your Pathfinder as well, if he is available. And don't call me Admiral. I'm retired. "

SAM: _{"As you wish, Primarch Pertinasus. This may be a few minutes."}_

Nimis: "Understood. You… you are Ryder's SAM, yes? The AI?"

SAM: _{"Yes. Is that a problem?"}_

Nimis: "If it was, I would never have come in the first place. It took Macen, Ryder, and Garson together to convince me, but they did it."

SAM: _{"Macen? Macen Barro, the Pathfinder of Ark Natanus?"}_

Nimis: "Yes. One of the finest engineers the Hierarchy has produced in a long time. Macen served under me as a damage control officer on the _Storm of Palaven,_ saved a lot of lives during a fight with some Terminus vathak out near the Verge. Then he joined the Blackwatch, and we stayed in contact. Macen retired twenty years later with a spotless service record, went into . Then, a few days after the Battle of the Citadel, Macen contacts me, excited as I had never seen him. We met after that, and he told me about the Andromeda Initiative, and their vision. And we met again, this time with Jien Garson, and Alec Ryder, and they convinced me to throw in the last of my life, and the resources of the Pertinasus family, into the Intiative."

SAM: _{"And… your feelings now?"}_

Nimis: "I am Turian. My feelings do not come into the matter once the course has been set. What of Alec Ryder? What happened to him? And Garson?"

SAM: _{"Alec died on Habitat 7. There was an accident. Director Garson… are you familiar with the Scourge?"}_

Nimis: "I've heard of it. Some kind of catastrophe, unique to the Heleus Cluster?"

SAM: _{"The Scourge has been described as "a dark energy cloud". Initiative scientists are still unsure of its exact composition, but it appeared in Heleus approximately three-hundred years ago, three hundred years after the Arks left the Milky Way Galaxy. The Scourge is attracted to electrical and magnetic signatures, and has appeared throughout the known Heleus Cluster. The presence of the Scourge disrupted the long-range sensors on the Nexus, the Hyperion, and likely the other arks as well. Upon arrival in Heleus, the Nexus collided with the Scourge to great loss of life, including that of Jien Garson and the majority of senior Initiative leadership."}_

Nimis: "Spirits…"

SAM: _{"That was fifteen months ago. The current leadership is Directors Jarun Tann, Colonial Director Foster Addison, Security Director Tiran Kandros, and Super-Intendant Nakmor Kesh."}_

Nimis: "Kandros? Any relation to Admiral Ravis Kandros?"

SAM: _{"Her son."}_

Nimis: "But he was dishonorably discharged from the Hierarchy, or so I heard."

SAM: _{"You are correct."}_

Nimis: "Then how is a dishonored soldier the Director of Security?"

SAM: _{"He was the best man for the job at the time, in the absence of anyone better."}_

Nimis: "So this is what we have come to."

 _ **Nimis sighs and coughs raggedly, shifting upon the gurney. The doors of the Med-Bay open to admit Varenthus, Rix, and Ryder.**_

Varenthus: "Primarch, are you well?"

Nimis: "I'm dying Commander."

Ryder: "Shit. Should I call the Doctor?"

Nimis: "There's nothing your Doctor can do for me. I'm old, human… this is not the first time I have felt the spirits touch upon me. I have stood upon the decks of blazing and broken ships, felt the dusts of asteroids beneath my boots as enemy fire cut inches above my fringe, and crawled through the ruins of terrorist attacks to pull bodies from the rubble to safety. Never have I felt as I do now. No… my time is near. Now… now I must look to the future, a future where only my spirit will be able to guide your paths, as best as I am able."

Varenthus: "What are your orders Admiral?"

 _ **Nimis is silent for a moment, eyes closed.**_

Nimis: "Pathfinder, I understand that you served in the Alliance before joining the Initiative. Name, rank, and honors."

 _ **Scott hesitates only briefly before he snaps to attention.**_ Scott: "Ryder, Scott E. Gunnery Sergeant of the Systems Alliance Marine Corps, rated B4, A1, and Biotic Power Level 3. I served onboard Relay Station 202 at Arcturus, served six months with the Alliance Peace-keeper Corps, before I was transferred back to 202. I was discharged in 2185, before I joined the Andromeda Initiative as a Recon Specialist on the Pathfinder Team. I am now the Pathfinder of Ark Hyperion."

Nimis: "And how did your predecessor fall?" _**One beady eye glares balefully up at Scott, making him stiffen in silent outrage.**_

Scott: "Respectfully… _Sir_ , I don't think that's any of your business."

Nimis: "Respectfully, _Sergeant_ , it is my business. I am going to die, leaving good soldiers at the mercy of an unknown and uncaring galaxy, their salvation being a human, an unknown human who never made officer-rank and with less merit to his name than a hatchling. Before I die, I _will_ know who I am leaving my soldiers to-!"

 _ **Scott is silent. Then-**_

Scott: "We'd just arrived at Habitat 7. Whatever you went through on Havaarl… Habitat 7 was worse. Mountains floating in the air, exploding storm clouds, hostile aliens, even the air was toxic. Dad- I mean, the Pathfinder attempted to interface with a Remnant structure to bring some order to the chaos. But something went wrong. There was an explosion. My helmet visor was smashed open. There was no way for help to get to us in time. It was my life… or his. And he chose mine."

 _ **The group are silent. Then:**_

Nimis: "Let us hope that the merit he has placed in you is not misplaced."

Scott: "I endeavor every day to prove it so, Sir."

Nimis: "Good. Varenthus:" _**Nimis gestures the larger greying turian closer to the bedside.**_

Nimis: "Though we are technically civilians, when I am dead, you will have the highest rank, unless there is a Primarch hidden amongst the turians on the Nexus. Take care of our people. Show the lawless fools of this galaxy the strength of turian steel and discipline! I leave my effects and my remains in your hands. See to it that all the proper rites are observed."

Varenthus: "Yes Sir."

Nimis: "Lieutenant Rix: When Macen brought you onto the Pathfinder team, I thought he'd finally lost his mind. A Spectre, and a student of that bare-faced traitor? Preposterous. But you proved your worth on that damned planet. Do you intend to continue?"

Rix: "To the death Sir."

Nimis: "Good. Varenthus: your talon."

 _ **Varenthus stiffly pulls a standard issue talon blade from the sheath strapped to his leg. Avitus extends his three-fingered hand, palm up, and Varenthus makes a small cut across the palm, making blue blood well. Nimis extends his own hand shakily, and Varenthus quickly makes the same cut across the admiral's palm. The admiral grits his teeth visibly as the steel breeches his scaline skin, but makes no sound as the blood comes.**_

 _ **The admiral and the lieutenant clasp bloody hands.**_

Nimis: "Lieutenant Avitus Rix: I charge you, as a former Spectre of the Citadel, and an officer of the Turian Hierarchy, to find the Ark-ship Natanus and it's Pathfinder, Macen Barro. Do you swear?"

Rix: "I swear that I, Lieutenant Avitus Rix of the Ark Natanus Pathfinder Team, shall do all in my power to find the Ark Natanus and its Pathfinder Macen Barro."

Varenthus: "And I, Pro-Praetor Atraedeus Varenthus of Palaven, witness this oath. Sergeant," _**Varenthus looks at Scott**_ , "do you witness?"

Ryder: "I witness."

Nimis: "So let it be done." _**Nimis grips Avitus's hand once, before releasing.**_ Nimis: "Now, quickly, a bandage, someone! Before that doctor comes back."

SAM: _{Ryder, bandages in the locker behind you. Second shelf, green box for dextro-medi-gel.}_

 _ **Scott turns and snaps the locker open, grabbing the box of prepared bandages and extracting two from the box. Handing the first bandage to Avitus, Ryder swiftly applies a line of medi-gel from a near-by dispenser to the Admirals hand before wrapping the bandage over the cut.**_

Varenthus: "You should have been a field-medic, Ryder."

Scott: "I had to learn a little bit of everything in the Peace-Keepers, Sir. Also, when Lexi finds out, I just came in and found you like this, and I did what the situation required. SAM, log it.

SAM: _{"Logged, Pathfinder."}_

Scott: "If you need anything, Primarch… let me know. Rix, we should talk about what will happen when we get to the Nexus."

 _ **Scott and Avitus leave the Med-bay.**_

Varenthus: "Do you truly believe Macen Barro is still alive, Admiral?"

Nimis: "It doesn't matter what I believe. What matters is that Rix believes Macen is alive, and what he will do to keep that belief alive. You were unconscious when we gathered the names of those put on that shuttle, Varenthus. All were either connected with the command crew or the Pathfinder Team. Only Macen, or someone acting under his orders, would have put this particular group together in one boat… As long… as long as… Avitus believes that Macen- gah!" _**Nimis hacks and coughs**_ , _**racking coughs that make his old body shake upon the gurney.**_

Varenthus: "Primarch! VI, call the Doctor back here now!"

 _ **The Med-bay doors snap open. Doctor T'Perro stands in the doorway, a grit-teeth and steely expression on her face, an open bottle of juice in one hand and a fork stabbed through a chunk of steak clasped firmly in the other.**_

T'Perro: "The Doctor is already here Commander. And if you've done _anything_ to my patient-!"

 _ **End recording.**_

…

 **Pathfinder's Cabin.**

"Jeezus that was close. A second later and we would have definitely faced the wrath of the Corpse-Cutter."

"Corpse-Cutter? Are your referring to-"

"Lexi – Dr. T'Perro, yeah."

"Is your ships physician that formidable?"

"My mother was a doctor, and Lexi certainly treats us like children at times, so believe me: Doctor plus Mother equals a really scary bitch when she wants to be."

"Hm."

"So… do you want something to drink? But- shit, I don't think I've got anything dextro-based-"

"Filtered water would be fine."

"Okay, I can do that. Here we go. Just drew this off from the tanks yesterday.

"Thank you."

Scott pours out two glasses of water, handing one over to Avitus before taking a swig from his own glass. They are both silent for several minutes

"I have to ask: did I hear that right? You were a- student? Of Saren?

"Yes. I was. Is that going to be a problem, human?"

"Is it a problem for you?"

"I resigned as a Spectre because of Saren's betrayal. Now answer my question."

"Let me put it like this: My father is - _was_ , Alec Ryder, a man who experimented with A.I. while humans were fighting a war with the geth, despite having already been stripped of his position and powers as an Alliance Officer. When he was found out, he was already a member of the Initiative and under Garson's protection, so the top brass took their displeasure out on me and my sister. I'll spare you the gory details. But, I guess the point is- I'm in the same boat as you. We're all in the same boat."

"Hm."

"So what was he like? Saren. In person, I mean."

"Harsh. Cunning. Ruthless. Uncompromising. He failed more Spectre candidates then most, but if he acknowledged you, recommended you, praised you … you felt you had truly accomplished something."

"Sounds like a hell of a teacher."

"He was the best. But something made him snap, and he dishonored all of us when he betrayed the Council and Hierarchy."

"And you."

"His students. Yes."

"So you resigned from the Spectre's. What made you join the Initiative?"

"You ask a lot of questions."

"That's one of the side-effects of being a Pathfinder. It's my job to ask questions."

"Macen- said something similar once."

"Macen? Macen Barro, the Natanus Pathfinder? Do you know each other well? What's he like?"

"Like no other."

"That doesn't actually tell me anything."

"I suppose it doesn't. But I don't want to talk about it right now. You said you wanted to talk about what to expect when we got to the Nexus. Why?"

"Because things are really messed up right now and you need to be prepared for it when we get there. Like I told you on Havaarl, our Golden Worlds didn't pan out like we'd planned. We've got only one small outpost as yet, and Our senior leadership is dead, the new leadership is- _learning as it goes_ , and everyone's on eggshells as to when and where the next disaster will strike. Once people find out that you were a Council Spectre, they'll probably be looking to you to solve some of their problems."

"My first priority is finding Macen and the Natanus-"

"-And I already said as much in my last report to the Directors. I also recommended you be put in charge of some kind of task force to help-"

"I won't be needing any help. I'm more than capable-"

"And there you go, assuming things are going to work through like they do- _did_ \- in the Milky Way. Clue here, Avitus, but you're not a Spectre, and the Nexus isn't the Citadel. We don't have the resources for someone to go off alone. And finding the Arks is on everyone's minds, more than ever. A team effort on your part might help ease people's minds."

"…"

 _ **Scott stares at the silent Avitus, and sighs.**_

"At any rate, we'll have to sit down with the directors and work things out. Unless some of your people want to go back into cryo-sleep, they'll probably be put to work wherever their skills will fit best as soon as possible. No free rides in Andromeda; well, except maybe the first one. But after that it's work work work."

"A turian is always ready to step up and to his duty."

"Macen tell you that too?"

"Yes. He did."

"You never answered my question."

"No. Macen is… peerless amongst turians. His record within the Hierarchy is spotless, but he's always been an adventurer and a bit of a maverick. His work as a combat engineer in the Blackwatch made him a legend in his own time."

"Blackwatch? That's the turian's Spec Ops program, isn't it? Like the Alliance's N7?"

"Yes. I met Macen during a joint operation. The Ops classified, but everything I've seen of Macen since then only strengthens my conviction that we need to find him, now more than ever. Natanus's SAM still hasn't switched over to me, so Macen has to be alive, somewhere out there."

"Then you have my word that I'll do everything in my power to help you find him."

"Thank you Pathfinder. I'd like to be alone for a while."

"No sooner said than done. Cabins' yours as long as you need it." _**Scott drains his glass and stands up.**_ "It's been good to talk. We should do it again some time."

"Hm."

….

 _{SAM, would you check if Liam's still awake. I'd really like to get a little drunk right now.}_

 _{Yes Pathfinder. Liam is currently in the port side cargo-bay watching a movie.}_

 _{Which one?}_

 _{A documentary on Palaven wildlife, "In the Tracks of the Vakar".}_

 _{Okay, I can go with that, so long as he's got beer.}_

 _{Yes, Scott, Liam has ale ready for you.}_

 _{Thanks SAM. I have a bad feeling that the next couple of days are going to get really long.}_

 _{Then enjoy it while you can, Pathfinder._ _ **Logging you out.**_ _}_

….

 **Author's Notes: Yes, I'm still alive and kicking, although barely. I got sick right before the holidays and barely had the energy to participate in the necessities, much less my passions.**

 **I'm still trying to untangle Andromeda's innumerable Gordian Knots and bring all of the loose threads into some kind of comprehensive pattern. I'm still butting heads with Liam, trying to pull out his baby teeth and find the real fangs of his character. Lexi is fun though. She's so quiet and unassuming, but the nuggets that turn up when you consider her are a surprise and delight to discover.**

 **I've also been considering the squad characters, and I'll be delving into them sometime in the next couple of chapters.**

 **I'd like to ask your opinion: should Avitus and the other Pathfinders join the Tempest crew?**

 **How do you think Angara reproduce? Live birth? Eggs? Marsupials?**

 **What exactly is a "crisis response specialist"? What is an "operations specialist"? How would you define Peebee and Drack's roles on the Tempest?**

 **As always, read, review, and enjoy.**


	48. Chapter 46

**Thoughts from Andromeda part 46**

By ElementalsAdvocate – { **Still alive! As always: read, review, and enjoy!}**

…

 **Year 2819. Shipboard Time 23:03, Day 36 after Arrival. Andromeda Galaxy, Heleus Cluster, En route to Nexus in the Zheng He System from Planet Havarl, Faroang System.**

…

 _ **Scott enters the secondary cargo-bay. Liam is stretched out on the couch in the center of the room, sipping from a metallic container and watching a holo-screen.**_

Scott: "Hey Liam."

Liam: "Hey Ryder. Video's almost over. Here, catch." _**Liam tosses a heavy metal bottle in Ryder's direction. Scott catches the bottle mid-air, pulls the plastic top off and takes a swig.**_

Scott: "Phwaw, what is this stuff?"

Liam: "Cider. Apple, mostly."

Scott: "Mostly?"

Liam: "That's what T'Mari told me when she sold me the case. I think this may be one of Dutch's experiments. It would explain the price."

Scott: "Oh." _**Scott takes another judicious sip from the bottle and drops down on the couch beside Liam.**_

Liam: "It's not so bad once your taste buds go numb."

Scott: "You could be right about that. So, what are you watching?"

Liam: " _In the Tracks of the Vakar_. It's a documentary that National Geographic did in 2172. First human network allowed to shoot on Palaven. All the turian shows end with the documentary crew posing on a vakar carcass."

Scott: "Okay, I'll bite: What's a _Vakar_?"

Liam: "Kind of a cross between a bear and a leopard, only take the fur off and put on carapace and plates and mandibles like a turian. Also, double in size whatever you've got in your head right now."

Scott: "Yikes."

Liam: "Better believe it. Back before they learned how to make guns, a single vakar could go through a community of turians like a hot knife through butter. Then they were almost hunted to extinction as a sport animal until the turians got off the planet and let up the pressure a little."

Scott: "Pretty sure I've heard that story somewhere before."

Liam: "Yeah. Anyway, the Vakar started making a comeback around the time of the early 2000's, then the general population found out and the hunting craze was back on. Now, or, when this documentary was made, there was only a few hundred still living on Palaven."

Scott: "Damn."

Liam: "Yeah. Hunting vakar's really regulated and enforced. Helps that the vakar is a kind of legendary cultural animal for the turian's. Apparently, back before the Hierarchy, turian leaders had to kill a vakar with their bare hands to prove their worthiness."

Scott: "Hell damn. Kill one of those things with their bare hands?"

Liam: "Talons. Kind of gives you a better idea of what it means to be a turian."

Scott: "Is that why you keep sending me video's? So I'll learn more about the other species?"

Liam: "Hey, if you want to get to know a species, take a look at their art. Salarian's prefer sciences to fiction, but they do like a lot of weird . They don't really have anything to do with romance, except as a kind of political favor. Turians love melodrama and crime stories, and some their musical instruments look like a brass-makers worst nightmare, but they sound like heaven. Asari are kind of all over the place, no surprises there, but they have nothing like gothic art or culture.

Scott: "Ummm, so no asari walking around in black with piercings and tats?"

Liam: "At least not for the same reasons humans do. _Siari_ doesn't really consider death in quite the same way we do."

Scott: "What is _siari_?"

Liam: "Its like an asari life-code-of-conduct. Most of it is in poetry like Buddhist koans. Doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Asari used to have a monotheistic religion, worshiping the goddess Athame. That's why you hear a lot of "By the Goddess!" when they curse, as opposed to "God!" for us."

Scott: "Did you learn all this from watching movies, or is some of this from past experience?"

Liam: "Sure. I told you before; Mum and Dad were diplomats to the Citadel. Mum practiced trade-law, Dad was the financial guru. After First Contact, they were back and forth between Earth and the Citadel until I came along."

Scott: "Which ward did they live in?"

Liam: "Oh, Presidium. Yeah, yeah, I know what you're thinking: how does the kid of a couple of hot-shot intergalactic diplomats become a crisis response specialist on a ship in another galaxy?"

Scott: "The thought _had_ crossed my mind."

Liam: "Well… in a nutshell, it's a long story."

Scott: "You don't say."

Liam: "I do say."

Scott: "Liam…"

Liam: "Okay, okay, seriously, I got nothing. It just felt right. Mum and Dad were always big on public service, and I always had a thing about making things work. I started out going into engineering, but metal and plastic are a lot less interesting than people, so I quit college and went into law enforcement."

Scott: "Why not join the Alliance? Or the diplomatic corps?"

Liam: "Saw enough of that with my parents. I wanted to get into the nitty-gritty, frontier-problem-solving stuff."

Scott: "I hear that. After being stuck guarding a mass relay for three years, I was ready for a change."

Liam: "Yeah. Well, it didn't quite work out like that for me."

Scott: "How do you mean?"

Liam: "Well, my parents kept trying to "help" me. Connections, contacts, helpful advice, "donations" to the right people, and they kept trying to stick me somewhere "safe" with "upward mobility". Don't get me wrong, I understood that they meant well. But it just kept getting in the way, you know?"

Scott: "Not really. Mom and Dad were more of the mind that preparation was the greatest defense against the worst that could happen, and part of that was letting Sara and I go out and make our own mistakes. And with Dad's reputation and my biotics, going into the Alliance Military was really my only choice."

Liam: "I finally managed to get my parents to back off and went to work in New Berlin on Mars. I mean, it's Mars. Still less than four million people across the whole planet, and most of its still rock, sand, and ice. Or… it was. Say; do you think anyone's gotten around to terraforming it yet?"

Scott: "Probably. Six hundred years is a long time to stare at an unchanging desert without wanting to do something about it. The Prothean Archives are probably a museum piece by now: Tourists coming in and out to gape at how primitive our technology used to be."

Liam: "Clogging the toilets, sticking gum under the seats, taking inappropriate pictures, and kids trying to climb all over the archives."

Scott: "Some things will never change."

Liam: "Yeah. Tell me about it. Beauracracy definitely never does."

Scott: "Touchy subject?"

Liam: "You could say that. Did you know that the basic living wage on Mars is a third of the galactic average?"

Scott: "That's not so hard when you've got places like Bekenstein and Illium weighting down the top-end."

Liam: "It is when you're living on a desert planet that won't allow heavy industry due to a "Prothean site of cultural and military significance". If you're not working at the Archives or with the Alliance, most of the people on Mars either live near the archologies doing the kind of subsistence level farming and light industry that Mar's own resources can provide, or they're the frontier-loner types living out in the desert or on the ice to get away from people all-together. "

Scott: "Sounds familiar to some of the planets I went to with the peace-keepers. And you were a cop on Mars?"

Liam: "Yeah. I went there to try and make a difference, but it was bullshit from the start. You could see Earth through a standard telescope on a clear night when the hemisphere was facing the right direction. Right next-door to the birth-place of the Alliance, but you couldn't tell that by looking out a window. After Garrison went through the Charon Mass Relay, everybody who could move out to the nice colonies like Eden Prime and Bekenstein and Elysium, and Mars turned into a backwater controlled by the Alliance in all but name."

Scott: "Damn. I never thought about it like that."

Liam: "No possible farming except in the archologies and the cities, and no heavy industry or mining allowed in case somebody tries to go looking for more Prothean ruins or artifacts on the sly."

Scott: "So no serious exports."

Liam: "And no money for imports, and no immigration. And nobody was interested in changing anything. I saw people every day, recycling everything that came to hand, eking out an existence with the bare-necessities. You know what poverty looks like on Mars? I'll tell you: Someone with a tube in their nose instead of a proper enviro-suit. Using their own shit to fertilize little plots of gardens and pots anywhere they could put them in. And that was the people who could even afford gardens."

Scott: "So what did you do?"

Liam: "Everything I could get away with, and a bit more. Community outreach, patching up hab-blocks on my days off, scavenging bits and pieces wherever I could in the higher end communities. I was no Robin Hood, but- let's just say that the New Berlin Trade Council's annual ball had a few of their food trucks redirected to some people who needed it."

Scott: "Liam Kosta: Robin Hood of the Red Planet."

Liam: "Don't call the publishers: the story doesn't end well. King Richard never showed up to save the day, there were no Merry Men, and Robin Hood didn't get the girl; instead Robin Hood got dragged in front of his boss the next day and bawled out for interfering with the "proper functioning of the city of New Berlin" and "ruining the highlight of the year". Then I got suspended for two weeks without pay."

Scott: "So… _was_ there a girl?"

Liam: "Nope."

Scott: "Damn."

Liam: "Yeah. And things just got worse from there. So, after two years on Mars and a dozen suspensions, I took a "lateral promotion" out of the force. Being a cop just didn't fit. But crisis response? Digging people out of trouble? That worked." _**Liam pauses his story momentarily to take a drink (to wet his throat?), humming with satisfaction.**_ "This stuff tastes better just thinking about those days."

Scott: "Tell me about it. What was your group again? Hustle-up, or something?"

Liam: "Just HUSTL. Stands for Heavy-Urban Search-Terrain 1. Earth's contribution to a multi-species disaster response unit. HUS-T1, but "HUSTL" looks better on a patch. All civilians. Retired vets – or shits like me. I was fiercely bearded." _**Liam sweeps one hand demonstratively across his chin.**_

Scott: "Ha! I'd pay money to see you in a beard!"

Liam: "Ask, and you shall receive."

 _ **With a flourish, Liam activates his omni-tool, projecting a holo-screen and a still picture of a group of assorted Citadel races (humans, asari, salarians, turians, etc.), standing in front of an enormous statue of a krogan, backed by a strangely curving city-scape.**_

Scott: "Hey, I know that statue! That's on the Citadel!"

Liam: "I knew you'd recognize it. This was taken after our first deployment. That's me in the middle."

 _ **Liam is easily recognizable, grinning widely and waving at the camera, wearing a blue-and-white safety suit and sporting a baseball cap with the letters "HUSTL" in bright yellow against dark blue. One arm is slung around the shoulders of a short but stiffly straight turian in uniform with bright blue and dark yellow markings across his face. Liam is also clearly sporting a thick mat of dark beard across his chin and cheeks.**_

Scott: "Nice. Who's the ramrod next to you?"

Liam: "Baddus Arssus."

Scott: "…. Excuse me?"

 _ **Liam maintains a straight face for a moment, before breaking into snorts with laughter.**_ Liam: "Well- that's what it sounded like when we first met! His real name was Baddacus Aurius. He was the liaison from the turian team to HUSTL and our back-up gear-master. Guy was serious as hell, but he was also really funny in his own way. He'd be all stoic and silent, and then you'd look at his eyes, and they'd be like "whaaaat" _**Liam gesticulates as if in terror or shock, both hands up in front of his face, fingers spread wide and eyes open in equal measure, before cracking up with more laughter.**_ "Never could get him to take that stick out of his ass. But we did a lot of good work together. Baddus was actually the one who inspired me to learn to fight with dual-omni-blades." _**Liam affectionately slaps the gauntlets on his arms.**_ "I nagged him for over a month before he finally agreed to teach me the basics. Kicked my ass, but it was worth it! Good times." _**Liam takes another sip of his beer.**_ "Enough about me. You think about your Alliance days much?"

Scott: "All the time. Mainly about how much my life has changed since those days."

Liam: "Any improvement?"

Scott: "Some. I always wanted to make my mark in the universe; to head out and go exploring where no one else has ever been. But it never really went through, and when Dad's research came out in public, that was it for my career in the Alliance. Funny, now that I think about, it all seems like a long time ago."

Liam: "Six hundred years. Give or take."

Scott: "Subtle, Liam. Subtle." _**{Tone indicates extreme sarcasm.}**_

Liam: "Hey, it's the truth. So, Pathfinder. Why Andromeda?"

Scott: "That blunt, huh?"

Liam: "That blunt."

 _ **Scott studies Liam wordlessly for several moments, eyes narrowed and one finger rubbing the side of the bottle in his hand. Finally:**_ Scott: "Because I was the only one I trusted to watch my sisters back when the whole world was against us. And because I had nothing left to lose by hopping on the boat and coming to Andromeda."

 _ **Liam blinked.**_ Liam: "That's… intense."

Scott: "Hey, you asked." _**Scott downs a gulp of his cider, hiding his discomfort in alcohol.**_ "So back at you Kosta: Why'd you come to Andromeda?"

Liam: "I _want_ to say "I'm running from my past, but really running from myself." That'd be a great story. But it's bullshit. I had family, friends, a good enough job. Nothing was wrong. I just heard about the Initiative and… I believed in it. I believed in a new beginning. Still do. I have to. We're in it."

Scott: "And that's it?"

Liam: "Yep, pretty much."

Scott: "Unh-hunh." _**{Sceptical tone and searching look at Liam's face indicate Scott is dubious about Liam's response.}**_

Liam: "Well, your Dad was in there somewhere."

Scott: "Liam…"

Liam: "Okay! Okay okay just take a joke, alright? Alec saw me working during a post-hostility action in the Traverse and asked me to join the Pathfinder team. I got interested. I mean, an N7 comes up to you and says you've got skills, you got to listen."

Scott: "What was he doing in a- "post-hostility action"?

Liam: "Ummm, something for the Initiative, I guess?"

Scott: "And you just – took him at his word?"

Liam: "What's wrong with just believing in something?"

Scott: "Nothing. It's the "just believing" I'm worried about." _**Scott takes a pull on his bottle to collect his thoughts.**_ "Liam - "just believing" isn't enough. I heard enough horror stories back on 202 about people grabbing the first shuttle and flying off into the nether believing they'll find paradise on the other side of the Mass Relay, without any idea of how they were going to make it, to think that belief alone is going to carry us through."

Liam: "I hear you. I guess… I want to be _there_ , when we make it. I want to be there so I can help make it better. Better than where I was."

Scott: "So you want to be there to build the castle on the hill in the wilderness, is that it?"

Liam: "Sort of. I don't know. No, I- look, Ryder - is it so bad to just want to make things better? Make a better tomorrow?"

Scott: "No. But Liam, "just believing" in a better tomorrow isn't going to be enough. Look at the Nexus: look how fucked up they were before we showed up. And if we hadn't showed up, what then?"

Liam: "But we did show up. Ryder, don't panic. _I_ know why I'm here. A bad start won't change that. I won't let it. In crisis response, I'd focus on essentials. That's you and this team. Pathfinder leads to planet leads to people. You have your part covered. You got this. I'll do my damnedest to help with the rest."

Scott: "That's all I can ask Liam, and I'm glad you're here."

Liam: "Cheers to that." _**Liam extends his bottle and Scott reciprocates in kind. The bottles make a distinct clanking sound, and Liam and Scott take simultaneous gulps.**_

Scott: "So, what else have you got in your video library?"

Liam: "Oh, you'll love this: "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"! Just the thing to help you unwind."

Scott: "Okay." _{Oh joy, British humor. SAM, do me a favor please? Wait half an hour, and then if the movie doesn't pan out, make up an emergency so I can leave.}_

 _SAM: {As you wish Pathfinder.}_

… _._

 _{Fin.}_

….

 **Authors Notes:**

 ***Vakar's are courtesy of LogicalPremises awesome Of Sheep and Battle Chicken. Check it out if you haven't already.**

 **This chapter was a real problem for me, but I couldn't bring myself to just overlook it as a chance to (attempt) to redeem Liam's character and build some kind of back-story for the poor guy. At some points, I found myself hearing the voice of a much younger turian cop we all know and love. (Garrus Vakarian, I'm looking at you) as well as Doctor Julian Bashir from Star Trek: DS9.**

 **What exactly is a crisis response specialist to a pathfinder team? I look up the title online, and basically, what I've found is that a crisis response specialist is someone who sits on trauma victims to make sure nothing happens to them before professionals arrive. So basically a crisis response specialist (as defined today) would be sort of like a ships counselor. But, Liam is clearly not a counselor (at least in the Star Trek: Next Generation sense of the job, although it might be an improvement). Liam's focus is entirely on his time as a cop (which leads into his job as the Tempest Security Specialist) and his time in HUSTL (Heavy Urban Search Terrain-1) "pulling people out of rubble" to be the Pathfinder's Crisis Response Specialist, focusing on search-and-rescue and .**

 **I can only speculate, but I'm certain that whoever created Liam's character and HUSTL drew some inspiration from Toronto's Heavy Urban Search and Rescue (HUSAR). According to Wikipedia, HUSAR is:**

" _ **the Toronto Heavy Urban Search and Rescue unit CAN-TF3 - a USAR unit able to response to disaster situations at a city, provincial and national level as well as offer international assistance.**_

 _ **CAN-TF3 is operated by Toronto Fire Services, in collaboration with Toronto Police Service and Toronto EMS created to deal with search and rescue operations in the City of Toronto.[1] This specialized unit was created following the events of September 11, 2001 and allows the city to deal with large-scale disasters. The unit can respond to situations outside of the city, and offer provincial, national, as well as international assistance.**_

 _ **Roles and responsibilities include, Search and Rescue, Emergency Medical Services, Planning & Technical Information, Logistics, and Command."**_

 **Urban Search and Rescue as defined by Wikipedia:**

" _ **involves the location, extrication, and initial medical stabilization of victims trapped in structural collapse due to natural disasters, mines and collapsed trenches.**_

 _ **The causes of USAR incidents can be categorized as accidental and deliberate.**_

 _ **Structural collapse incidents can comprise unstable or collapsed structures in an unsafe position. Usually collapse incidents leave voids inside the debris that can result in numerous casualties trapped under large amounts of very heavy and often unstable debris.**_

 _ **USAR services can be faced with complex rescue operations within hazardous environment. Incidents experience shows that people are often found alive many hours and days after rescue operations commence, and the corresponding services should be planned accordingly.**_

 **So the idea of Liam as Crisis Response Specialist would be some kind of amalgamation of HUSAR's five roles and responsibilities, a back-up squad medic with focus on getting people out of danger and dealing with disasters. But the problem is that we never actually see Liam acting in that role. He's always the back-up soldier, with some elements of an Engineer thrown in. Which is disappointing, and almost useless compared to more formidable choices like Cora or Drack.**

 **I'm going to keep working on Liam. Keep flying, keep exploring, keep writing. See you next time!**


End file.
